 Iliev in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Georgi Iliev Rusev | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-09-05)5 September 1981 (age 44) | ||
| Place of birth | Varna, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Central midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1999 | Cherno More | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2003 | Cherno More | 72 | (13) |
| 1999–2000 | →Svetkavitsa (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2003–2005 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 67 | (8) |
| 2005–2008 | CSKA Sofia | 57 | (3) |
| 2008–2014 | Cherno More | 135 | (35) |
| 2014–2015 | Shijiazhuang Yongchang | 37 | (13) |
| 2015–2019 | Cherno More | 111 | (23) |
| 2019 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 19 | (4) |
| Total | 503 | (99) | |
| International career | |||
| 2004–2020 | Bulgaria | 24 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021–2022 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv (assistant) | ||
| 2023–2025 | Qingdao Hainiu (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Georgi Iliev Rusev (Bulgarian:Георги Илиев Русев; born 5 September 1981) is a Bulgarian former professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder, notably forCherno More, where he made over 350 appearances for the club in all competitions. Iliev is the second highest scorer for Cherno More in the Bulgarian top flight with 71 goals.
His playing career included also spells atLokomotiv Plovdiv andCSKA Sofia, as well as withShijiazhuang Yongchang in China. Iliev holds the record for the highest number of appearances in theBulgarian First League, with 461 (318 for Cherno More, 86 for Lokomotiv and 57 for CSKA).[2] He also gained 24Bulgaria caps between 2004 and 2019.
Born inVarna, Iliev was taken on byCherno More at an early age and signed a professional contract in July 2000. His debut came on 14 October 2000 atHristo Botev Stadium ending in a 1–0 defeat toBotev Plovdiv. On 21 October, he went on to score his first competitive goal for Cherno More againstLitex Lovech on his 2nd appearance for the club. For three years in Cherno More, Iliev earned 72 appearances playing in theA PFG, scored 13 goals.[3]
In 2003, Iliev was transferred toLokomotiv Plovdiv. He made his first appearance in a 4–1 win overMarek on 16 August 2003. In his first season at Lokomotiv, they won their first ever A PFG championship. On 31 July 2004, Iliev helped Lokomotiv win theBulgarian Supercup and he made his debut for theBulgarian national side under coachHristo Stoichkov in the same year. On 29 September 2005, he scored his first ever European goals for Lokomotiv, in a 1–2 loss againstBolton Wanderers in theUEFA Cup.[4]
On 16 December 2005,CSKA Sofia signed Georgi Iliev to a three-year deal. On 5 March 2006, he made his competitive debut for CSKA in a 1–0 victory overBotev Plovdiv. During the 2006–07 season Iliev netted his first CSKA goal. He scored on 5 August 2006 in a 2–0 away victory overCherno More. On 18 April 2007, Georgi scored CSKA's second in a 2–0 home win againstBotev Plovdiv. Iliev netted CSKA's only and his third goal in a 1–0 win againstBeroe Stara Zagora on 7 October 2007. With CSKA he was aChampion of Bulgaria for 2008 and holder ofBulgarian Cup for 2006.
In June 2008, Iliev made a comeback for his first teamCherno More. On 2 October 2008, Georgi scored the 2nd goal for the Sailors in theUEFA Cup match againstVfB Stuttgart in the away 2–2 draw at theMercedes-Benz Arena.[5] Iliev took over the captaincy ofCherno More whenAleksandar Aleksandrov was transferred toLevski Sofia in 2009. On 26 October 2009, he made his 100th league appearance for Cherno more in a 1–1 draw againstSlavia Sofia, scoring the only goal. On 18 April 2012, Iliev scored ahat-trick in the 7–1 win overKaliakra Kavarna.[6]
Iliev signed with Chinese sideShijiazhuang Yongchang on 6 January 2014 on a two-year deal for a reported fee of €100,000.[7] He finished2014 season in theChina League One as the club's top scorer with 9 goals, helping his team to gain promotion to theChinese Super League for first time in club's history.On 5 April 2015 he scored his first goal for Shijiazhuang inChinese Super League in a 1–2 away loss toJiangsu Sainty.[8]
Iliev returned for his third stint with his hometown club in 2016. In his 300th match[9] for Cherno More in the country's top flight he scored twice againstDunav Ruse on 26 October 2018 to become the second highest scoring player in the history of Cherno More.[10] The game also marked Iliev's 423rd appearance inFirst Professional Football League, surpassing another Cherno More legend,Todor Marev, as the footballer with the 4th highest number of appearances in the league's history.
Iliev, along with five other senior players, was omitted from the team squad for Cherno More's away game against eventual championsLudogorets on the last day of the2018-19 season.[11][12] After the match, which Ludogorets won 4–1 to become Bulgarian champions for the eight consecutive year, Cherno More's managerIlian Iliev confirmed that the players have been released[13] after failing apolygraph test[14][15] concerning their conduct in the 1–3 defeat against title-hopefulsCSKA Sofia on 4 May in Varna. The manager claimed undertaking the test was "unpleasant, but voluntary."[16] Georgi Iliev strongly contested the accusations stemming from the results, calling them "a filthy lie", and insisting on his and his colleagues' innocence.[17][18] The six players undertook second polygraph test, which they organized and which results showed them in the clear.[19] The legitimacy of the test and the company that took it were widely questioned in Bulgarian media.[20][21][22]
On 12 May 2019, Georgi Iliev signed a one-year contract withLokomotiv Plovdiv,[23] where he was part of the championship winning team in2003-2004. In an emotional debut atTicha Stadium in the first round of the 2019–2020 season against former clubCherno More Varna, Iliev provided an assist, but ultimately Cherno More prevailed 3–1.[24]
An occasional member of theUnder 21 team, Iliev marked his international début underHristo Stoichkov on 29 November 2004 in a friendly game againstEgypt. His first goal forBulgaria came againstIceland on 7 September 2005. He has so far been capped 24 times forBulgaria.[25]
| Club | Division | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Cherno More | B Group | 1999–00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| A Group | 2000–01 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 21 | 4 | |
| 2001–02 | 36 | 8 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 38 | 8 | ||
| 2002–03 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 19 | 3 | ||
| Total | 72 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 15 | ||
| Svetkavitsa (loan) | B Group | 1999–00 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 5 | 0 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | A Group | 2003–04 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 32 | 1 |
| 2004–05 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 34 | 5 | ||
| 2005–06 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 17 | 3 | ||
| Total | 72 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 88 | 9 | ||
| CSKA Sofia | A Group | 2005–06 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 15 | 0 |
| 2006–07 | 28 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 37 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 1 | ||
| Total | 57 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 68 | 3 | ||
| Cherno More | A Group | 2008–09 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 26 | 4 |
| 2009–10 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 22 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | 26 | 9 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 28 | 9 | ||
| 2011–12 | 28 | 10 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 29 | 10 | ||
| 2012–13 | 29 | 7 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 31 | 7 | ||
| 2013–14 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 18 | 2 | ||
| Total | 135 | 35 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 154 | 38 | ||
| Shijiazhuang Yongchang | Super League | 2014 | 26 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 26 | 10 |
| 2015 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 3 | ||
| Total | 37 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 13 | ||
| Cherno More | First League | 2015–16 | 14 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 4 |
| 2016–17 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 32 | 3 | ||
| 2017–18 | 35 | 6 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1[c] | 0 | 36 | 6 | ||
| 2018–19 | 32 | 10 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 35 | 10 | ||
| Total | 111 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 117 | 23 | ||
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | First League | 2019–20 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 26 | 4 |
| Career total | 503 | 99 | 38 | 4 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 568 | 105 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 2004 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 24 | 2 | |
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 September 2005 | Vasil Levski National Stadium,Sofia,Bulgaria |  Iceland | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2006 World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 4 June 2013 | Almaty Central Stadium,Almaty,Kazakhstan |  Kazakhstan | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
CSKA Sofia
