Asen Nikolov
Encyclopedia
Asen Nikolov nicknamed Bebeto
Bebeto
José Roberto Gama de Oliveira, known as 'Bebeto', is a former football forward, a World Champion for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup...

(Бебето), is a Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

n footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 playing as an attacking midfielder for French US Le Pontet
US Le Pontet
Union Sportive Le Pontet Football is a football club based in Le Pontet, Vaucluse, France. They play at the Stade de Montbord in Le Pontet.-History:The club was formed in 1980 under the name of Olympique Pontétien...

. For the Bulgarian national team
Bulgaria national football team
The FIFA Bulgaria national football team is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. The team's home ground is Vasil Levski in Sofia and Luboslav Penev is in charge manager after replacement of Lothar Matthäus...

, Nikolov was capped one time.

Career

After spending the first three years of his career in his home town with Maritsa
FC Maritsa Plovdiv
Maritsa FC is a Bulgarian football club from the city of Plovdiv. Established in 1921 after the merger of Karshiaka's teams Vampir and Trite Konski Sili....

, Nikolov relocated to Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

 in June 1997, signing a five year contract with Levski
PFC Levski Sofia
"Levski Sofia" redirects here. For the sports club, see Levski Sofia .PFC Levski Sofia, otherwise simply known as Levski or Levski Sofia, is a professional football club based in Sofia, Bulgaria...

, with whom he was Champion of Bulgaria
Bulgarian A Professional Football Group
The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group commonly known as A PFG is the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The league is sponsored by Victoria FATA Insurance and therefore is officially known as Victoria A Football Group since 2011...

 two times (2000, 2001) and won Bulgarian Cup
Bulgarian Cup
The Bulgarian Cup is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. It is sponsored by the Bulgarian Corporate Commercial Bank....

 in 1998 and 2000.

In January 2002, Slavia Sofia signed Nikolov to a four-year deal. In Slavia he earned 68 appearances playing in the A PFG
Bulgarian A Professional Football Group
The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group commonly known as A PFG is the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The league is sponsored by Victoria FATA Insurance and therefore is officially known as Victoria A Football Group since 2011...

 and scored five goals, before moving to PFC Turan Tovuz
PFC Turan Tovuz
Turan Tovuz PFC is an Azerbaijani football club based in Tovuz. The club plays in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the top division in Azerbaijani football and won the league title once, in 1994-1995...

 in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

, where he has established himself as one of the best players in the country.

In August 2006, Nikolov signed a three-year contract with Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

n club FK Partizan
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan is a professional football club based in Belgrade, Serbia. In its long history, FK Partizan won as many as 37 trophies. The club is the holder of 23 national championships, 12 national cups and 1 national supercup, and has also won the Mitropa Cup in 1978...

 at the request of the manager, Miodrag Ješić
Miodrag Ješic
Miodrag Ješić is a Serbian football manager and a former footballer. He is the current Head coach of Shahrdari Tabriz.-Playing:...

, who noticed his talent while working in Bulgaria. Yet, on 20 September 2006, just one month after the transfer was made and with only several games played for the club, Nikolov was substituted in the 38th minute of the Serbian Cup
Serbian Cup
The Serbian Cup is the national football cup of Serbia. For sponsorship reasons it is referred to in the media as Lav Cup of Serbia since 2007.The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round.-Sponsorship:...

 game against FK ČSK Pivara
FK CSK Pivara
ČSK Pivara is a football club from Čelarevo, Serbia. It was founded in 1925 as ČOSK...

, because of "extremely low performance, physical capacity of an aged man and being a bad influence on the team spirit". Ješić has also said that it was "definitely the last game Nikolov had played for Partizan".http://topsport.ibox.bg/news/id_1485547769

In the next season he returned to Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

, signing a contract with FK Baku
FK Baku
Football Club Baku is an Azerbaijani football club in Baku, Azerbaijan. The club sponsored by the Baghlan Group Company and ZQAN Holding.FC Baku plays in the Azerbaijan Premier League and have won two Azerbaijan Premier League championships and two Azerbaijan Cups.-History:FC Baku was founded in...

. After that played six months and in FK Qäbälä.

In January 2009, the 32-year-old Nikolov returned to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 and signed with Slavia Sofia
PFC Slavia Sofia
PFC Slavia Sofia is a Bulgarian football club founded on 10 April 1913 in Sofia. Slavia's ground is Slavia Stadium with a capacity of 15,992. The team's colours are white and black....

.

Awards

Champion of Bulgaria - 2 times - 2000, 2001 (with Levski
PFC Levski Sofia
"Levski Sofia" redirects here. For the sports club, see Levski Sofia .PFC Levski Sofia, otherwise simply known as Levski or Levski Sofia, is a professional football club based in Sofia, Bulgaria...

)
Bulgarian Cup
Bulgarian Cup
The Bulgarian Cup is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. It is sponsored by the Bulgarian Corporate Commercial Bank....

 - 2 times - 1998, 2000 (with Levski
PFC Levski Sofia
"Levski Sofia" redirects here. For the sports club, see Levski Sofia .PFC Levski Sofia, otherwise simply known as Levski or Levski Sofia, is a professional football club based in Sofia, Bulgaria...

)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK