Georgi Ivanov (footballer)

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Personal information
Georgi Ivanov

Full name	Georgi Ivanov
Date of birth	2 July 1976
Place of birth	Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Height	1.84m
Nickname	Gonzo
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	NK Rijeka
Number	9
Youth clubs
1986-1991	PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992-1997 1997-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006 2007-	PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Levski Sofia Rennes PFC Levski Sofia Samsunspor Gaziantepspor PFC Levski Sofia NK Rijeka	54 (15) 115 (69) 12 (0) 21 (9) 29 (4) 13 (1) 13 (7) 3 (3)
National team²
1996-2004	Bulgaria	33 (4)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of February 18, 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of August 31, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

For other persons named Georgi Ivanov, see Georgi Ivanov (disambiguation).

Georgi Ivanov (Bulgarian: Георги Иванов), born July 2, 1976), is a Bulgarian football striker who currently plays for NK Rijeka in Croatia. He started his career in his home town Plovdiv playing for local club Lokomotiv Plovdiv. His talent soon became apparent, and he received several call ups for the Bulgarian national football team. "Gonzo" as he was known among the fans signed for Levski Sofia in 1999, and immediately became a favorite of the crowds with his incredible skills and passion for the game. Furthermore, he was greatly appreciated by the club's supporters for his extraordinary efficiency in the games against rivals CSKA Sofia. With 14 goals in the derby games, Georgi Ivanov is all-time highest scorer in these games. He won the Bulgarian title in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and was voted Bulgaria's Player of the year in both 2000 and 2001. Considered by many at the time to be the best player in the Bulgarian league, Gonzo then joined French Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais FC for a club record transfer fee of 4.2 million euro in 2002 after being linked to several top clubs. Incidentally, the season after his departure, CSKA Sofia dethroned Levski to claim their first league title since 1997. However, injuries hampered Gonzo's perfomances in France, and after only a year abroad he rejoined Levski. He later also played for several Turkish teams, before once again rejoining Levski Sofia on a free transfer from Gaziantepspor in 2006 and winning them the title for the fourth time in his career by scoring an important penalty in a derby against CSKA Sofia. In January 2007, Georgi Ivanov tranferred to Croatian club NK Rijeka.

[edit] External links

Official player website from LEVSKI2000 [1]

	Bulgaria squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Zdravkov \| 2 Kishishev \| 3 T. Ivanov \| 4 I. Petkov \| 5 Yordanov \| 6 Yankov \| 7 Kostadinov \| 8 Stoichkov \| 9 Penev \| 10 Balakov \| 11 Iliev \| 12 Mikhailov \| 13 Ginchev \| 14 Hristov \| 15 Zafirov \| 16 Nankov \| 17 Stoilov \| 18 Borimirov \| 19 Bachev \| 20 G. Ivanov \| 21 Kirilov \| 22 M. Petkov \| Coach: Bonev