Veselin Minev

Veselin Minev

250px Minev playing for Antalyaspor in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Veselin Milchev Minev
Date of birth	(1980-10-14) 14 October 1980
Place of birth	Pazardzhik, Bulgaria
Height
Position(s)	Left back
Team information
Current team	Levski Sofia
Number	14
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2001	Hebar Pazardzhik	2	(0)
2001–2003	Belasitsa Petrich	34	(0)
2004–2006	Botev Plovdiv	62	(4)
2006–2011	Levski Sofia	91	(1)
2011–2012	Antalyaspor	29	(0)
2013–2014	Botev Plovdiv	35	(0)
2014–	Levski Sofia	42	(0)
International career‡
2009–	Bulgaria	21	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 December 2015 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 09:21, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

Veselin Minev (Bulgarian Cyrillic: Веселин Минев; born 14 October 1980 in Pazardzhik) is a Bulgarian footballer, who plays as a defender for Levski Sofia and the Bulgarian national team.

He has a twin brother, Yordan, who is also a footballer.

Career

Minev, together with his twin brother, started his career at Hebar Pazardzhik. Later, Minev joined Botev Plovdiv.

Levski Sofia

Minev came to Levski in June 2006.

On 9 May 2009, Minev and his twin brother Yordan entered in the history of The Eternal Derby. The situation was even more interesting, because Veselin was a left full-back and his brother Yordan was a right midfielder, and Veselin guarded his brother Yordan. Despite the tackles, after a foul against Veselin, Yordan came to him and call the referee.

He became a Champion of Bulgaria in 2008/2009 season. In 2009/2010 season, Levski achieved qualifying for UEFA Europa League becoming 3rd in the final ranking. During the 2010/2011 Levski qualified for UEFA Europa League after eliminating Dundalk F.C., Kalmar FF and AIK Fotboll. Levski was drawn in Group C, facing Gent, Lille and Sporting CP.

Antalyaspor

On 30 May 2011, Minev signed a three-year deal with Turkish club Antalyaspor for an undisclosed fee. He left the club in early December 2012 for personal reasons.

Botev Plovdiv

On 12 December 2012, immediately following the appointment of Stanimir Stoilov as head coach, Minev signed a 1.5-year contract (with the option for an additional year) with his former club Botev Plovdiv. Minev was among the first choice defenders during his time with the "canaries", captaining the team on occasions. His last game for the club was the 4:0 home victory against Libertas in the first qualifying round for UEFA Europa League on 3 July 2014.

Levski Sofia

In July 2014 Minev's contract with Botev was terminated due to the financial problems that occurred in the club. On the 7 July 2014 he returned to Levski signing a new 1+1 year deal with the club.

International career

On 28 August 2009, Minev received his first international call-up for the World Qualifier match against Montenegro. He remained an unused substitute for the game. On 10 October 2009, he made his debut for the national side in the 1:4 away loss to Cyprus, playing the full 90 minutes of the game. Minev was a starter for Bulgaria during the first two 2014 World Cup qualifiers, but in October 2012 he received a two-match ban for his involvement in a number of incidents during the ill-tempered match against Armenia.

Club statistics

As of 7 December 2012.

Club		Season	League		Cups		Europe		Total
	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Levski Sofia	2006–07	10	0	3	0	1	0	14	0
	2007–08	18	0	3	0	0	0	21	0
	2008–09	18	0	2	0	1	0	21	0
	2009–10	22	0	2	0	12	0	36	0
	2010–11	23	1	3	0	11	0	35	1
Antalyaspor	2011–12	25	0	7	0	–	–	32	0
	2012–13	4	0	2	0	–	–	6	0
2014–15	8	0	0	0	–	–	0	0	Career totals		120	1	22	0	25	0	167	1

National team

Bulgaria national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2009	3	0
2010	4	0
2011	1	0
2012	6	0
2013	3	0
Total	17	0

Honours

• Champion of Bulgaria: 2006–07, 2008–09
• Bulgarian Cup 2007
• Bulgarian Supercup 2006–07, 2008–09

External links

• Minev profile at national-football-teams
• Veselin Minev at Soccerway
• Profile at LevskiSofia.info