Daniel Borimirov

Daniel Borimirov

Personal information
Full name	Daniel Boytchev Borimirov
Date of birth	15 January 1970 (1970-01-15) (age 41)
Place of birth	Vidin, Bulgaria
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1983–1990	FC Bdin
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1987–1990	FC Bdin	91	(18)
1990–1995	Levski Sofia	123	(37)
1995–2004	1860 Munich	214	(32)
2004–2008	Levski Sofia	106	(29)
National team
1993–2005	Bulgaria	66	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Daniel Boytchev Borimirov (Bulgarian: Даниел Боримиров; born 15 January 1970) is a retired Bulgarian footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder.

His career was almost exclusively associated with two clubs, Levski Sofia and 1860 Munich, later working in directorial capacities with the former. He was also capped nearly 70 times for the Bulgarian national team, for which he appeared in four major international competitions.

Club career

Born in Vidin, Borimirov started his professional career with PFC Levski Sofia, having arrived at the club in 1990 from lowly FC Bdin. In the beginning, he appeared mainly as a supporting striker, but eventually reconverted to attacking midfielder.

At Levski, Borimirov was very important – if not crucial – part in all of the club's six major titles during his first spell, three leagues and three cups. After 32 goals combined in his last two years, with back-to-back national championships, he signed with Germany's TSV 1860 München.

Borimirov made his Bundesliga debut on 12 August 1995, scoring twice at FC St. Pauli, albeit in a 2–4 loss, adding another two in the next two games, as the Lions eventually finished in eighth position; in the following season, he experienced his best year abroad, netting nine times in 31 matches, helping TSV qualify for the UEFA Cup.

In the following years, although used more sparingly, Borimirov continued to be an important member for Munich 1860, eventually appearing in nearly 300 official matches in his eight and a half-year spell. In early January 2004, one week shy of his 34th birthday, he returned to Levski, being the driving force behind the success of the club in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, helping the capital outfit to the quarterfinals, namely scoring against Udinese Calcio and FC Schalke 04 (the latter in the stage where the club was ousted, 2–4 on aggregate^[1]).

In an interview on 16 August 2006, Borimirov stated he was attending coaching classes, intending to work in football after retiring as a player.^[2] On 1 July of the following year, he played for a FIFA All-Star team against China in an exhibition game as part of Hong Kong's ten-year independence anniversary celebrations. The miscellaneous side was coached by Gérard Houllier, and featured players like Hidetoshi Nakata, Stéphane Chapuisat, Christian Karembeu, George Weah and Brian McBride.^[3]

Borimirov still played an important part in the 2006–07 season, playing in 20 matches (four goals) as Levski won the league – and the cup. He ended his career at the age of 38, playing his last game on 17 May 2008 against city neighbours PFC Slavia Sofia, with his team winning the match.

After retiring, Borimirov served as director of football at Levski Sofia, replacing former club and national teammate Nasko Sirakov, and himself being replaced at the end of 2008–09 by Georgi Ivanov.

Controversy

In 2006, still as a player, Borimirov gained notoriety in Bulgarian football circles for his violent outbursts after controversial referee decisions. One particular accident in which he was involved in resulted in him spitting in the face of the referee. Borimirov was fined 10,000 Bulgarian lev by the Bulgarian Football Union, later apologizing for his behaviour.

Two years later, now in directorial capacities, he caused more controversy, following a match against PFC CSKA Sofia.^[4]

International career

For Bulgaria, Borimirov was capped 66 times, scoring five goals. He made his debut in 1993, being selected for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1996, 1998 World Cup and Euro 2004, totalling 11 appearances, with one goal.

In the first competition, as the national team finished in fourth place, Borimirov scored against Greece in the group stage, for Bulgaria's first ever FIFA World Cup win (4–0, in Chicago, having played only eight minutes). He also converted his penalty shootout attempt in the round of 16 win against Mexico.

Honours

Club

• Bulgarian League: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2005–06, 2006–07
• Bulgarian Cup: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 2004–05, 2006–07
• Bulgarian Supercup: 2005, 2007

Individual

• Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 2005

References

1. ^ "Uefa Cup round-up". BBC Sport. 30 March 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/4862868.stm. Retrieved 15 January 2010. 
2. ^ "Даниел Боримиров: Оптимист съм за мача с Киево" (in Bulgarian). Sportni. 16 August 2006. http://www.sportni.bg/?tid=40&oid=923523. Retrieved 15 January 2010. 
3. ^ "FIFA help Hong Kong celebrations". FIFA.com. 29 June 2007. http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/news/newsid=541005.html?cid=rssfeed&att=. Retrieved 15 January 2010. 
4. ^ "FC Levski complain of referees". Standart News. 7 April 2009. http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2009-04-07&article=27159. Retrieved 15 January 2010. 

External links

• Daniel Borimirov at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Daniel Borimirov at National-Football-Teams.com
• Daniel Borimirov – FIFA competition record

Persondata
Name	Borimirov, Daniel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	15 January 1970
Place of birth	Vidin, Bulgaria
Date of death
Place of death