Apostol Popov

Apostol Popov (Bulgarian: Апостол Попов; born 22 December 1982) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Vitosha Bistritsa.

Apostol Popov
Popov with CSKA Sofia in 2011
Personal information
Full name Apostol Aleksandrov Popov
Date of birth (1982-12-22) 22 December 1982
Place of birth Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Centre-back / Right-back
Club information
Current team
 Vitosha Bistritsa
Number 18
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2005 Spartak Plovdiv 84 (5)
2005–2006 Belite Orli 35 (0)
2007 Haskovo 22 (1)
2008–2009 Botev Plovdiv 40 (1)
2009–2015 CSKA Sofia 116 (4)
2015–2018 Universitatea Craiova 57 (2)
2018–2019 CSKA 1948 26 (0)
2019 Botev Vratsa 8 (0)
2020– Vitosha Bistritsa 2 (1)
National team
2011–2014 Bulgaria 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 July 2020

Career

Early career

Popov began his career with Spartak Plovdiv and made his first team debut in 2001.[1] Then he played two and a half years in the second division with Belite Orli and Haskovo, before joined Botev Plovdiv in December 2007.

Botev Plovdiv

Popov signed with Botev Plovdiv as a free agent on 27 December 2007 on a two-and-a-half-year deal.[2] He was signed to replace Nikolay Domakinov at Botev and added an extra dimension with his heading ability from set-pieces. He made his official debut in the A PFG with Botev Plovdiv in a match against Spartak Varna on 1 March 2008, playing full 90 minutes. The result of the match was a 2–0 win for Botev.

He scored his first goal on 27 September 2008, opening the scoring in a 5–0 home win over Belasitsa Petrich. On 14 March 2009, Popov played as a goalkeeper for the final minutes in the league game against Levski Sofia after regular goalkeeper Lilcho Arsov was sent off in the 86th minute.[3] He made one good save during the minutes to the end of the game, but Botev lost 0–1.

CSKA Sofia

On 24 July 2009, Popov joined CSKA Sofia on a three-year contract.[4] He made his debut on 23 August, in a 2–0 away win against Sportist Svoge. His first goal came on 10 April 2010, netting the third in a 4–2 win over Sliven 2000 at Hadzhi Dimitar Stadium.

On 13 August 2011, in the second league game of 2011–12 season, against Chernomorets Burgas, Popov ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and received surgery a week later.[5] His recovery was said to take up to six months. He made his comeback for CSKA from a serious knee injury on 22 April 2012, in a 4–1 win over Cherno More Varna, coming on for the last 2 minutes. This season he played only 6 matches.

In the following campaign, Popov formed a partnership with Plamen Krachunov in the centre of defence, appearing in 26 league matches. He was substituted only once during the entire league season. On 26 July 2012, he scored his first-ever European goal in a 1–1 home draw against Slovenian side ND Mura 05 in the Second qualifying round of 2012–13 Europa League.

On 17 July 2013, Popov signed a new two-year contract with CSKA.[6] After serving mainly as a centre back for the majority of his career, during 2013–14 season he started to be employed as the regular right back by CSKA head coach, Stoycho Mladenov.

On 8 March 2014, Popov again played as a goalkeeper for a few minutes in the 1:0 win over Levski Sofia after Raïs M'Bolhi had been sent off in the closing stages of the match.

On 27 July 2014, Popov made his 100th league appearance for CSKA in a 2–0 win against Levski Sofia.

Universitatea Craiova

On 6 June 2015, Popov signed a two-year contract with Universitatea Craiova.[7]

CSKA 1948

On 13 June 2018, Popov joined Second League club CSKA 1948.[8]

International career

In August 2011, Popov was named in the Bulgarian squad for the first time for a friendly against Belarus.[9] He made his debut in the game on 11 August, coming on for the last 7 minutes in place of Chavdar Yankov as Bulgaria loss 1–0 at Dinamo Stadium in Minsk.[10]

Three years later, on 9 September 2014, in Bulgaria's first match of UEFA Euro 2016 qualification, Popov made his competitive debut in a 2–1 victory away to Azerbaijan at Bakcell Arena, Baku, playing full 90 minutes in the centre of defence.

Career statistics

Club
As of 31 May 2015
Club performanceLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotal
ClubSeasonLeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Belite orli 2005–06 B Group 22000––220
2006–07 13000––130
Total 350000000350
Haskovo 2006–07 B Group 9000––90
2007–08 13100––131
Total 221000000221
Botev Plovdiv 2007–08 A Group 15000––150
2008–09 25110––261
Total 401100000411
CSKA Sofia 2009–10 A Group 1313020–181
2010–11 2024010–252
2011–12 6000001070
2012–13 2605021–331
2013–14 33120––351
2014–15 1801020–210
Total 116415071101395

Honours

Club
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gollark: They're all in JS.
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gollark: !cg become_event_managers
gollark: LyricLy, you would usually count *down*.

References
  1. "Любимият Апостол на ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  2. "Ботев подписа с Апостол Попов" (in Bulgarian). plovdiv24.bg. 27 December 2007.
  3. "Левски победи минимално Ботев в Пловдив и продължава уверено борбата за титлата" (in Bulgarian). novsport.com. 14 March 2009.
  4. "Апостол Попов подписа с ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). dariknews.bg. 24 July 2009.
  5. "Апостол Попов с тежка контузия, извън игра до края на годината" (in Bulgarian). sporta.bg. 16 August 2011.
  6. "Апостол Попов се върна в ЦСКА с договор за 2 години" (in Bulgarian). novsport.com. 17 July 2013.
  7. "Universitatea a transferat un internațional bulgar" (in Bulgarian). csuc.ro. 6 June 2015.
  8. "Апостол Попов: Уникално е да си част от ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). cska1948.bg. 13 June 2018.
  9. "Лотар Матеус обяви група от 25 футболисти за мача с Беларус" (in Bulgarian). sporta.bg. 4 August 2011.
  10. "Беларус се подигра с България" (in Bulgarian). temasport.com. 11 August 2011.
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