Dimitar Berbatov: Difference between revisions
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== Early life and career == |
== Early life and career == |
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Dimitar Berbatov was born in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria near the border with Yugoslavia, where his father was a professional footballer with local outfit Pirin Blagoevgrad. His career began at the same club, and continued until he was spotted by legendary scout and coach Dimitar Penev and, only 17, he moved to one of the most successful Bulgarian clubs [[CSKA Sofia]] following in the footsteps of his father, Ivan, who also played for the club as a left winger and later as a defender. He played for [[CSKA Sofia|CSKA]] in the Bulgarian [[A PFG]] between [[1998]] and January [[2001]] making his debut as an 18-year-old in the 1998/99 season. He started to make his name the following year when he scored 14 goals in 27 league games and won the [[Bulgarian Cup|Bulgarian National Cup]] in 1999. However, Berbatov did not enjoy a good relationship with the fans of the club. He was seen to have rued chances in crucial games, one example being in May 2000 when [[CSKA Sofia|CSKA]] lost to arch rivals Levski and also lost the title, despite dominating the whole match. |
Dimitar Berbatov was born in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria near the border with Yugoslavia, where his father was a professional footballer with local outfit Pirin Blagoevgrad. His career began at the same club, and continued until he was spotted by legendary scout and coach [[Dimitar Penev]] and, only 17, he moved to one of the most successful Bulgarian clubs [[CSKA Sofia]] following in the footsteps of his father, Ivan, who also played for the club as a left winger and later as a defender. He played for [[CSKA Sofia|CSKA]] in the Bulgarian [[A PFG]] between [[1998]] and January [[2001]] making his debut as an 18-year-old in the 1998/99 season. He started to make his name the following year when he scored 14 goals in 27 league games and won the [[Bulgarian Cup|Bulgarian National Cup]] in 1999. However, Berbatov did not enjoy a good relationship with the fans of the club. He was seen to have rued chances in crucial games, one example being in May 2000 when [[CSKA Sofia|CSKA]] lost to arch rivals Levski and also lost the title, despite dominating the whole match. |
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For some, the idol became a villain, despite being still only 19 years of age, carry an injury and having received threats on his mobile phone the week before the game. At the start of the 2000/01 season CSKA drew at home against Litex and angry fans besieged the home side's changing room. The angry fans hurled abuse at Berbatov and his mother; later he even contemplated giving up football.<ref>{{cite web | title=Hot Spur Berbatov intent on offering full value| work=Matt Lawton, The Daily Mail | url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=411740&in_page_id=1779| accessdate=20 October | accessyear=2006 }}</ref> |
For some, the idol became a villain, despite being still only 19 years of age, carry an injury and having received threats on his mobile phone the week before the game. At the start of the 2000/01 season CSKA drew at home against Litex and angry fans besieged the home side's changing room. The angry fans hurled abuse at Berbatov and his mother; later he even contemplated giving up football.<ref>{{cite web | title=Hot Spur Berbatov intent on offering full value| work=Matt Lawton, The Daily Mail | url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=411740&in_page_id=1779| accessdate=20 October | accessyear=2006 }}</ref> |
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Revision as of 16:06, 23 April 2007
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name |
Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov (Template:Lang-bg) | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.89 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:51, 23 April 2007 (UTC) | |||
Dimitar Berbatov (Template:Lang-bg) (born 30 January 1981 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria), is a Bulgarian international and Tottenham Hotspur footballer.
Early life and career
Dimitar Berbatov was born in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria near the border with Yugoslavia, where his father was a professional footballer with local outfit Pirin Blagoevgrad. His career began at the same club, and continued until he was spotted by legendary scout and coach Dimitar Penev and, only 17, he moved to one of the most successful Bulgarian clubs CSKA Sofia following in the footsteps of his father, Ivan, who also played for the club as a left winger and later as a defender. He played for CSKA in the Bulgarian A PFG between 1998 and January 2001 making his debut as an 18-year-old in the 1998/99 season. He started to make his name the following year when he scored 14 goals in 27 league games and won the Bulgarian National Cup in 1999. However, Berbatov did not enjoy a good relationship with the fans of the club. He was seen to have rued chances in crucial games, one example being in May 2000 when CSKA lost to arch rivals Levski and also lost the title, despite dominating the whole match.
For some, the idol became a villain, despite being still only 19 years of age, carry an injury and having received threats on his mobile phone the week before the game. At the start of the 2000/01 season CSKA drew at home against Litex and angry fans besieged the home side's changing room. The angry fans hurled abuse at Berbatov and his mother; later he even contemplated giving up football.[1]
Bayer Leverkusen
A run of nine goals in 11 games in 2000/01 was enough to persuade Bayer Leverkusen to sign Berbatov in January 2001. Berbatov had a slow start to his Leverkusen career with just 16 goals in his first 67 appearances for the club. He did however play a crucial role in the Champions League during his first season with the club scoring a memorable solo effort against Lyon with an excellent bit of skill, as well as a goal against Liverpool in the quarter finals. He also played a part in the Final against Real Madrid coming on as a substitute for Thomas Brdaric after 38 minutes.
In 2001-02 Leverkusen were runners-up in the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal. During the 2002-03 Bundesliga season Berbatov established his place as the first-choice forward at Bayer Leverkusen but it wasn't until the 2003-04 season that he really began to shine scoring 16 goals in 24 starts. The following two seasons saw him go from strength to strength, netting another 46 goals including 5 in the Champions League 2004-05 raising awareness of his talent and generating interest from teams throughout Europe.
Move to Tottenham Hotspur F.C
In May 2006, Berbatov joined English Premiership team Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of €16m[2] (£10.9 million).[3] making him the most expensive Bulgarian player in history, more expensive than Valeri Bojinov (€13m) and Martin Petrov (€12m). After being granted a work permit, the transfer was completed, and Berbatov joined Tottenham on 1 July, 2006.
Berbatov scored his first Tottenham Hotspur goal on his home debut in the Premiership game against Sheffield United at White Hart Lane. He built up a rewarding partnership with Robbie Keane in the UEFA Cup until Spurs' departure to Seville in the quarter-finals, and, despite Martin Jol's rotation of his fellow strikers, Berbatov has firmly established himself as the first choice forward at the club. He has participated in all but one of the games he has been fit to play in, starting 12 of a possible 15 games and coming on as substitute for a further two of those. His experience in Europe is already reaping rewards for his new club. He has scored in each of the four UEFA Cup games he has played for Spurs, with his performances earning two man-of-the-match awards in the group stages against Besiktas and Club Brugge. On 27 November , 2006 Berbatov excelled once again for Spurs, and began to show his increasing adaption to the English Premier League with an excellent performance against Wigan, scoring a solo goal effort and creating the other two in a 3-1 win. On December 9 2006, Berbatov scored his first FA Barclays Premiership brace for Spurs in a 5-1 victory for his side against Charlton Athletic. Berbatov came on as a sub against Fulham FC in the FA Cup to score his first two goals in the competition. Berbatov scored his first away goal in the Premiership at Goodison Park against Everton, a first-time shot from around the penalty spot after an Aaron Lennon cross. Spurs went on to win the match 2-1. On February 25 2007, Berbatov earned the Man Of The Match award in a 4-1 win against Bolton Wanderers after putting on a sensational performance which won him many plaudits, despite him not scoring in the match. On March 4, 2007, Berbatov displayed another convincing performance against West Ham United, in which he scored a free kick late in the 90th minute to help Spurs win 4-3. On March 11, 2007, he scored again in a FA cup 1/4 final against Chelsea, only 5 minutes after the match started.
On the 14th March, Berbatov scored a brace in Spurs 3-2 victory over Braga in the UEFA Cup. He also created the third goal with a deft touch into the path of Steed Malbranque who applied the finish with a close-range volley. These two goals mean that he has now scored 7 goals in 6 European performances, and 9 goals in the last 8 games he has played in (in all competitions).
Former Spurs player and captain turned Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp, has become a fan of Berbatov's displays and influence on the game, saying "Not many players could come to the Premiership and fit right in as he has done" [citation needed].
Berbatov was also included in the FA Premier League's PFA Team of the Season on April 21, 2007.
Career in numbers
| Club | Season | Domestic League | Domestic Cup | League Cup | European Competition | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| CSKA Sofia | 98-99 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | - | - | 0 | 0 | ? | ? |
| 99-00 | 27 | 14 | 4 | 2 | - | - | 2 | 0 | ? | ? | |
| 00-01 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 4 | 7 | ? | ? | |
| Total | 50 | 25 | 50 | 25 | |||||||
| Bayer Leverkusen |
00-01 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | ? | ? |
| 01-02 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 6 | - | - | 11 | 2 | 36 | 9 | |
| 02-03 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 7 | 2 | 31 | 6 | |
| 03-04 | 32 | 16 | 3 | 3 | - | - | 0 | 0 | ? | ? | |
| 04-05 | 32 | 20 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 10 | 5 | ? | ? | |
| 05-06 | 34 | 21 | 2 | 3 | - | - | 2 | 0 | ? | ? | |
| Total | 152 | 68 | 12 | 13 | 30 | 9 | 194 | 90 | |||
| Tottenham | 06-07 | 28 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 45 | 20 |
| Total | 28 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 45 | 20 | |
| Career Totals | 230 | 102 | 17 | 16 | 45 | 23 | 289 | 135 | |||
Honours
Bulgarian Cup: 1999
Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 2002, 2004, 2005
Bulgarian Fans' Player of the Year: 2006
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. |
- Has described former football player Alan Shearer as a role model.[4]
- Scored 2 goals in 2 minutes in his first match as a Tottenham player against Birmingham in a pre-season friendly match.
- Learnt the English language by watching the Godfather films.[5]
- Lists his hobbies as drawing and basketball.[6]
- Berbatov was voted as one of the "10 Hottest Bulgarian Men of the Year", an award given by the Bulgarian NOVA TV tabloid show Goreshto ("Hot") [citation needed]
- Berbatov has been given the nickname of "The Bulgarian Hitman" for his deadly aim at goal.
References
- ^ "Hot Spur Berbatov intent on offering full value". Matt Lawton, The Daily Mail. Retrieved 20 October.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "NINE FOR BERBATOV". tottenhamhotspur.com. Retrieved 18 May.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "BERBATOV: SPURS ON THE 'UP AND UP'". premierleague.com. Retrieved 20 May.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "No dream duel for Berbatov". UEFA. 2003-02-18. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Berbatov excels in the spotlight to put Tottenham through". The Independent. 2006-11-24. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Dimitar Berbatov". BBC. Retrieved 20 May.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)