Kiril Despodov

Kiril Despodov (Bulgarian: Кирил Десподов; born 11 November 1996) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays for Austrian Bundesliga side Sturm Graz, on loan from Serie A club Cagliari, and the Bulgarian national team.[2] He primarily plays as a winger but can also play as a forward.

This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Vasilev and the family name is Despodov.

Kiril Despodov
Despodov warming up for Bulgaria in October 2018
Personal information
Full name Kiril Vasilev Despodov
Date of birth (1996-11-11) 11 November 1996
Place of birth Kresna, Bulgaria
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Winger, forward
Club information
Current team
 Sturm Graz (on loan from Cagliari)
Number 11
Youth career
2007–2008 Pirin 2001[1]
2008–2015 Litex Lovech
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 Litex Lovech 37 (4)
2015–2016 Litex Lovech II 13 (2)
2016 CSKA Sofia II 1 (0)
2016–2019 CSKA Sofia 71 (20)
2019– Cagliari 4 (0)
2019–2020 → Sturm Graz (loan) 19 (8)
National team‡
2012–2013 Bulgaria U17 9 (5)
2012–2015 Bulgaria U19 17 (5)
2015–2018 Bulgaria U21 20 (6)
2017– Bulgaria 12 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 June 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2019

Despodov made his way through the youth teams at Litex Lovech before making his senior debut in 2012 at the age of 15. He was transferred to CSKA Sofia in June 2016, where he established himself as the team's star player, winning the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award in 2018 - the first CSKA player to do so since Hristo Stoichkov in 1989.

On 23 March 2018, Despodov made his senior international debut for Bulgaria in a 1–0 friendly loss against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Career

Litex Lovech

Despodov was born in Kresna. He joined Litex Lovech's Academy at the age of 12 and progressed through the club's youth system. He played an important role in Litex's 2012 BFU U-16 Cup win, scoring two goals in the final against Cherno More on 26 April.[3]

Despodov made his first team debut under Hristo Stoichkov's management,[4] at 15 years 183 days, in a 5–0 league win over Kaliakra Kavarna on 12 May 2012, coming on as a substitute for Svetoslav Todorov.[5] He scored his first goal on 10 August 2013, netting the fifth in a 5–1 away league win over Pirin Gotse Delchev.

On 22 November 2014, Despodov scored his first goal of the 2014–15 season against Cherno More in a 3–0 away win. On 27 November, he signed his first professional contract with Litex shortly after turning 18.[6] Two days later he scored his second goal of the season in a 2–2 away draw against Levski Sofia in the 66th minute to clinch a point for his team.

Despite the not so good start of the season 2015–16 for Despodov, as he played only in 4 matches from 19 rounds, he became a hero in the quarterfinals of the Bulgarian Cup. In the match against Levski Sofia, after coming on as a subtitude in the 76th minute when the match was 0–0 and Litex was down to 10 people, they eventually ended up winning the game after extra time 3–0, with Despodov scoring 2 of the goals.[7][8]

CSKA Sofia

On 29 April 2017, Despodov scored his first goal in The Eternal Derby, netting the second in CSKA Sofia's 3–0 win over Levski Sofia in a First Professional Football League match.[9]

Cagliari

On 30 January 2019, Despodov completed a transfer to Serie A side Cagliari, signing a contract until 2023 with an extension option for one more season. CSKA Sofia did not reveal the exact transfer fee, but it was reported that it broke the record for an outgoing First League transfer of a local Bulgarian player, which until then was Hristo Stoichkov's $ 4.5 million move to Barcelona in the summer of 1990.[10] He made his debut for the club in a 3–0 away loss to Milan on 10 February, coming on for Artur Ioniță in the 75th minute.[11]

Sturm Graz (loan)

On 2 September 2019, Despodov was loaned to Sturm Graz for the 2019–20 season.[12]

International career

On 7 February 2015, Despodov made his first appearance for Bulgaria, in a goalless draw with Romania in a non-official friendly match, coming on as a late substitute for Stanislav Manolev.[13] He was also called up in March 2017, for a 2018 World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands, but remained on the bench.[14] Despodov finally made his complete debut for Bulgaria on 23 March 2018 in a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, replacing Spas Delev shortly after the one hour mark.[15]

On 13 October 2018, he scored his first goal for the national team in a 2–1 home win against Cyprus, in a match for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League.

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 1 July 2020
ClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Litex Lovech 2011–12 A Group 1000––10
2012–13 8010––90
2013–14 6240––102
2014–15 1823000–212
2015–16 405200–72
Total 3741320000506
Litex Lovech II 2015–16 B Group 132–––132
CSKA Sofia II 2016–17 Second League 10–––10
CSKA Sofia 2016–17 First League 25400––254
2017–18 30833––3311
2018–19 1681052–2210
Total 71204352008025
Cagliari 2018–19 Serie A 4000––40
Sturm Graz (loan) 2019–20 Bundesliga 19821––219
Career total 14534196520016942

International
As of match played 17 November 2019[16]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Bulgaria 201700
201851
201970
Total121

International goals
Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.[16]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.13 October 2018Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria Cyprus1–12–12018–19 UEFA Nations League C

Awards

Individual
gollark: oh noit is possible that you have been infected with SARS-CoV-2
gollark: Or base2048/base65536 encoding for Twitter/basic-character-limited environments.
gollark: Have a packed binary encoding which can then be encoded in spoken syllables or base64/base85 text.
gollark: Like pointers, so nobody understands it.
gollark: Idea: use good programming practices by separating your conlang's written/spoken formats from the actual data representation!

References
  1. "Kiril Despodov interview". 24chasa.bg. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  2. "Kiril Despodov". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  3. "Талант от Кресна носи купа на Литекс" (in Bulgarian). e-79.com. 26 April 2012.
  4. Anastasov, Anatoli (9 October 2012). "Ицо бил лош, а?". 7sport.net. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  5. "Литекс громи 5:0 Калиакра". lovechtoday.eu. 13 May 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  6. "Литекс подписа с талант" (in Bulgarian). blitz.bg. 27 November 2014.
  7. 10 от Литекс разпиляха Левски в продълженията
  8. Героят за Литекс: Всички сме много щастливи
  9. "НА ЖИВО: Левски - ЦСКА 0:3, "сините" са в нокдаун!" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  10. "Официално: Каляри и ЦСКА-София обявиха трансфера на Кирил Десподов" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 30 January 2019.
  11. "Милан се разправи с Каляри в дебюта на Кирил Десподов" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 10 February 2019.
  12. "Официално: Щурм Грац нае Кирил Десподов" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 2 September 2019.
  13. "Romania vs. Bulgaria 0:0". flashscore.com. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  14. "Bulgaria NT vs. Netherlands NT 2:0". flashscore.com. 25 March 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  15. Автогол повали България, капитанът на Берое с комичен червен картон
  16. "Despodov, Kiril". National Football Teams. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
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