Strahil Popov
{{Short description|Bulgarian footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{family name hatnote|Venkov|Popov|lang=Bulgarian}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Strahil Popov
| image = Strahil Popov 2.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1990|8|31|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
| height = 1.85 m
| position = Right back
| currentclub =
| clubnumber =
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 = Pirin Blagoevgrad
| youthyears2 =
| youthclubs2 = Pirin 2001
| years1 = 2008–2016
| clubs1 = Litex Lovech
| caps1 = 138
| goals1 = 6
| years2 = 2009
| clubs2 = → Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)
| caps2 = 14
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 2010
| clubs3 = → Montana (loan)
| caps3 = 2
| goals3 = 0
| years4 = 2016–2020
| clubs4 = Kasımpaşa
| caps4 = 125
| goals4 = 1
| years5 = 2020–2021
| clubs5 = Hatayspor
| caps5 = 57
| goals5 = 0
| years6 = 2022
| clubs6 = Eyüpspor
| caps6 = 16
| goals6 = 0
| years7 = 2022–2024
| clubs7 = Ümraniyespor
| caps7 = 46
| goals7 = 2
| nationalyears1 = 2008
| nationalyears2 = 2009–2012
| nationalteam1 = Bulgaria U19
| nationalteam2 = Bulgaria U21
| nationalcaps1 = 3
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalcaps2 = 3
| nationalgoals2 = 0
| nationalyears3 = 2014–2021
| nationalteam3 = Bulgaria
| nationalcaps3 = 35
| nationalgoals3 = 0
| pcupdate = 07:50, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
| ntupdate = 21:29, 25 March 2021 (UTC)
}}
Strahil Popov ({{langx|bg|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.{{cite web|publisher=fmbulgaria.com|title=Интервю със Страхил Попов от Литекс|url=http://www.fmbulgaria.com/?p=154|language=Bulgarian}}
=Litex Lovech=
==Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)==
On 9 July 2009, Popov joined Lokomotiv Mezdra on loan until December 2009.{{cite web|publisher=sportal.bg|title=Литекс даде Страхил Попов на Локо (Мездра)|url=http://football.sportal.bg/news.php?news=183184|date=9 July 2009|language=Bulgarian}} 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.{{cite web|publisher=sportal.bg|title=Младежки национал от Литекс под наем в Монтана|url=http://www.sportal.bg/news.php?anketa_results&anketa_res&news=216237&com_page=6|date=18 January 2010|language=Bulgarian}} 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.{{cite web|publisher=gong.bg|title=Страхил Попов е новият капитан на Литекс|url=http://gong.bg/bg-football/a-grupa/strahil-popov-e-noviiat-kapitan-na-liteks-290961|date=3 August 2014|language=Bulgarian}} 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.[http://www.sportal.bg/news.php?news=583324 Капитанът на Литекс подписа с турски отбор]
On 27 October 2017, he scored his first league goal in a match against Göztepe.[https://www.sportal.bg/news.php?news=691372 Страхил Попов с важен гол за Касъмпаша]
International career
After first being called up for a friendly match against Belarus in March 2014, but remaining an unused substitute,{{cite web|publisher=topsport.bg|title=Националите тренираха в пълен състав, "лъвовете" ще тренират и преди мача с Беларус |url=http://topsport.ibox.bg/news/id_1624055427|date=4 March 2014|language=Bulgarian}} Popov made his debut for the national side on 23 May 2014, in the 1–1 draw with Canada.{{cite web|publisher=flashscore.com|title=Bulgaria vs. Canada 1-1|url=http://www.flashscore.com/match/4tFrKsIg/#lineups;1|date=23 May 2014}} 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.{{cite web | url = http://news7.bg/Спорт/Футбол-България/Национален-отбор/Ново-начало-Хърватия-ни-развинти-за-3-0_l.s_i.167209_c.58.html#.VhwKHRuhfcs| title = Ново начало? Хърватия ни развинти за 3:0| language = Bulgarian | author=|publisher = news7.bg| date=10 October 2015|accessdate = 12 October 2015}}
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.[https://www.sportal.bg/bnt/ln/ln_news.php?news=757308 Страхил Попов изпревари едни от най-големите европейски звезди в Лигата на нациите]
Statistics
=Club=
{{updated|25 December 2019[https://int.soccerway.com/players/strahil-popov/88070/ Popov Stats]}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" | ||||||||||||
| Colspan="3"|Club performance | Colspan="2"|League | Colspan="2"|Cup | Colspan="2"|Continental | Colspan="2"|Other | Colspan="3"|Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | League | Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Colspan="3"|Bulgaria | Colspan="2"|League | Colspan="2"|Bulgarian Cup | Colspan="2"|Europe | Colspan="2"|OtherIncludes Bulgarian Supercup matches. | Colspan="2"|Total | |||||||
| Litex Lovech
| rowspan=9 |A Group |3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)
| rowspan=2 |2009–10 !14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 14 | 0 | |||||
| Montana (loan)
!2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 2 | 0 | |||||
| rowspan=7 |Litex Lovech
|3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 3 | 0 | ||||
| 2011–12
|18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | |||
| 2012–13
|27 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 30 | 0 | |||||
| 2013–14
|37 | 2 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 40 | 2 | |||||
| 2014–15
|31 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 39 | 3 | ||||
| 2015–16
|19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 23 | 1 | ||||
| colspan="2"|Total
!138 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 159 | 6 | |||
| Colspan="3"|Turkey | Colspan="2"|League | Colspan="2"|Turkish Cup | Colspan="2"|Europe | Colspan="2"|OtherIncludes Turkish Super Cup matches. | Colspan="2"|Total | |||||||
| rowspan=6 |Kasımpaşa
| rowspan=5 |Süper Lig |13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 13 | 0 | |||||
| 2016–17
|33 | 0 | 7 | 1 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 40 | 1 | |||||
| 2017–18
|32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 32 | 1 | |||||
| 2018–19
|33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 36 | 0 | |||||
| 2019–20
|14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 14 | 0 | |||||
| colspan="2"|Total
!125 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 135 | 2 | |||
| colspan="3"|Career statistics | 280 | 7 | 25 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 312 | 8 |
=International=
{{smalldiv|{{updated|22 November 2018}}}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | |||||
| rowspan="2"|Team
!rowspan="2"|Year !colspan="2"|Tournament !colspan="2"|Friendly !colspan="2"|Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| rowspan="6"|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 |
| colspan="2"|Total
!15||0||7||0||22||0 | |||||
| colspan="2"|Career total
!21||0||8||0||29||0 |
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
Awards
=Club=
;Litex Lovech
- Bulgarian A PFG 2010/2011
- Bulgarian Cup – 2009
- Bulgarian Supercup 2010
=Individual=
- Best defender in A Group: 2015
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{soccerway|strahil-popov/88070}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popov, Strahil}}
Category:Footballers from Blagoevgrad
Category:Bulgarian men's footballers
Category:Bulgaria men's youth international footballers
Category:Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers
Category:Bulgaria men's international footballers
Category:Men's association football fullbacks
Category:Men's association football defenders
Category:FC Lokomotiv Mezdra players
Category:Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers
Category:Hatayspor footballers
Category:Ümraniyespor footballers
Category:First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players
Category:Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey