Strahil Popov

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Venkov and the family name is Popov.
Strahil Popov
Personal information
Full name Strahil Venkov Popov[1]
Date of birth (1990-08-31) 31 August 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Right back
Youth career
Pirin Blagoevgrad
Pirin 2001
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2016 Litex Lovech 138 (6)
2009 → Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan) 14 (0)
2010 → Montana (loan) 2 (0)
2016–2020 Kasımpaşa 125 (1)
2020–2021 Hatayspor 57 (0)
2022 Eyüpspor 16 (0)
2022–2024 Ümraniyespor 46 (2)
International career‡
2008 Bulgaria U19 3 (0)
2009–2012 Bulgaria U21 3 (0)
2014–2021 Bulgaria 35 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:50, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:29, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Strahil Popov (Bulgarian: Страхил Попов; born 31 August 1990) is a Bulgarian professional footballer. He mainly plays as a right back.

Popov began his professional career at Litex Lovech in 2008. After loan spells at Lokomotiv Mezdra and Montana he became a regular in their team, playing 159 total games and scoring 6 goals for Litex. He signed for Kasımpaşa in January 2016.

Popov is a Bulgaria international, having represented his country at under-19 and under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in May 2014, aged 23, in a friendly match against Canada.

Club career

Born in Blagoevgrad, Popov began his career playing for Pirin Blagoevgrad before departing for Pirin 2001.[2]

Litex Lovech

In 2008, Popov joined Litex Lovech.[3]

Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)

On 9 July 2009, Popov joined Lokomotiv Mezdra on loan until December 2009.[4] He made his team début on 10 July, scoring goal in a 1–2 friendly loss against Sivasspor.

Montana (loan)

On 18 January 2010, Popov was loaned out to Montana for the rest of the season.[5] He made his competitive debut on 20 March in a 0–0 home league draw against Litex, coming on as a second-half substitute, and participated in only one more game to the end of the season.

Return to Litex

Popov returned to Litex at the end of the 2009–10 season. He played only three league games during a following campaign and became a regular first team player in the 2011–12 season. On 21 March 2012, Popov was sent off for the first time in his professional career in a 1–1 away draw against Beroe Stara Zagora.

On 21 July 2013, Popov scored his first goal for Litex, with a header, netting the third in a 4–1 home win over Neftochimic Burgas. He then scored the winning goal in Litex's 2–1 away win against Slavia Sofia on 7 December.

On 3 August 2014, Popov was announced as Litex's new club captain.[6] Six days later, he added his third goal for Litex against Botev Plovdiv in a 3–3 away draw.

Kasımpaşa

On 5 January 2016, he moved to the Turkish Süper Lig team Kasımpaşa for a reported fee of €750 000. He was given the number 90 jersey.[7]

On 27 October 2017, he scored his first league goal in a match against Göztepe.[8]

International career

After first being called up for a friendly match against Belarus in March 2014, but remaining an unused substitute,[9] Popov made his debut for the national side on 23 May 2014, in the 1–1 draw with Canada.[10] He played as a starter on 10 October 2015, in the 0–3 loss against Croatia in a Euro 2016 qualifier, remaining on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.[11]

On 13 October 2018, he provided two decisive assists in a 2–1 home win against Cyprus, in a match for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. He became second top assistant with four assists in all over group in the competition.[12]

Statistics

Club

As of 25 December 2019[13]
Club performance League Cup Continental Other Total
Club League Season Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bulgaria League Bulgarian Cup Europe Other[a] Total
Litex Lovech A Group 2008–09 3 0 0 0 0 0 – 3 0
Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan) 2009–10 14 0 0 0 – – 14 0
Montana (loan) 2 0 0 0 – – 2 0
Litex Lovech 2010–11 3 0 0 0 0 0 – 3 0
2011–12 18 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 21 0
2012–13 27 0 3 0 – – 30 0
2013–14 37 2 3 0 – – 40 2
2014–15 31 3 4 0 4 0 – 39 3
2015–16 19 1 2 0 2 0 – 23 1
Total 138 6 14 0 6 0 1 0 159 6
Turkey League Turkish Cup Europe Other[b] Total
Kasımpaşa Süper Lig 2015–16 13 0 0 0 – – 13 0
2016–17 33 0 7 1 – – 40 1
2017–18 32 1 0 0 – – 32 1
2018–19 33 0 3 0 – – 36 0
2019–20 14 0 0 0 – – 14 0
Total 125 1 10 1 0 0 0 0 135 2
Career statistics 280 7 25 1 6 0 1 0 312 8

International

As of 22 November 2018
Team Year Tournament Friendly Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bulgaria
2014 0 0 1 0 1 0
2015 1 0 0 0 1 0
2016 4 0 4 0 8 0
2017 6 0 0 0 6 0
2018 4 0 2 0 6 0
Total 15 0 7 0 22 0
Career total 21 0 8 0 29 0
  1. ^ Includes Bulgarian Supercup matches.
  2. ^ Includes Turkish Super Cup matches.

Awards

Club

Litex Lovech

Individual

References

  1. ^ "European Championship 2020: Booking List before Qualifying Round Matchday 10" (PDF). UEFA. 17 November 2019. p. 1. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Интервю със Страхил Попов от Литекс" (in Bulgarian). fmbulgaria.com.
  3. ^ "Stats Centre: Strahil Popov Facts". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  4. ^ "Литекс даде Страхил Попов на Локо (Мездра)" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 9 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Младежки национал от Литекс под наем в Монтана" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 18 January 2010.
  6. ^ "Страхил Попов е новият капитан на Литекс" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 3 August 2014.
  7. ^ Капитанът на Литекс подписа с турски отбор
  8. ^ Страхил Попов с важен гол за Касъмпаша
  9. ^ "Националите тренираха в пълен състав, "лъвовете" ще тренират и преди мача с Беларус" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 4 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Bulgaria vs. Canada 1-1". flashscore.com. 23 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Ново начало? Хърватия ни развинти за 3:0" (in Bulgarian). news7.bg. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  12. ^ Страхил Попов изпревари едни от най-големите европейски звезди в Лигата на нациите
  13. ^ Popov Stats