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{{short description|Bulgarian footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Velizar Dimitrov
| image = Dimitrov2.jpg
| caption = Dimitrov with [[FC Metalurh Donetsk|Metalurh Donetsk]] in 2011
| fullname =
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1979|4|13}}
| birth_place = [[Pernik]], Bulgaria
| height = {{height|m=1.77}}
| currentclub  = 
| clubnumber =
| position = [[Midfielder|Attacking midfielder]]
| youthyears1=
| youthclubs1= [[FC Minyor Pernik|Minyor Pernik]]
| years1 = 1997–1998 | clubs1 = [[FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia|Lokomotiv Sofia]] | caps1 = 3  | goals1 = 0 
| years2 = 1998–2000 | clubs2 = [[FC Minyor Pernik|Minyor Pernik]]          | caps2 = 28 | goals2 = 6 
| years3 = 1999      | clubs3 = → [[FC Lovech|Litex]] (loan)         | caps3 = 0  | goals3 = 0
| years4 = 2000      | clubs4 = [[FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia|Lokomotiv Sofia]] | caps4 = 2  | goals4 = 0
| years5 = 2001–2002 | clubs5 = [[FC Marek Dupnitsa|Marek Dupnitsa]]        | caps5 = 43 | goals5 = 18 
| years6 = 2002–2008 | clubs6 = [[PFC CSKA Sofia|CSKA Sofia]]               | caps6 = 115 | goals6 = 36 
| years7 = 2008–2013 | clubs7 = [[FC Metalurh Donetsk|Metalurh Donetsk]]    | caps7 = 108 | goals7 = 18
| totalcaps = 296 | totalgoals = 78
| nationalyears1= 2002–2010
| nationalteam1= [[Bulgaria national football team|Bulgaria]]
| nationalcaps1= 31 | nationalgoals1 = 3
| manageryears1 = 2014–2015  | managerclubs1 = [[FC Metalurh Donetsk|Metalurh Donetsk]] (Scout)
| manageryears2 = 2016–2021     | managerclubs2 = [[PFC CSKA Sofia|CSKA Sofia]] (Scout)
| pcupdate = 
| ntupdate= 
}}

'''Velizar Kostadinov Dimitrov''' ({{langx|bg|Велизар Димитров}}; born 13 April 1979) is a [[Bulgaria]]n former professional [[Association football|footballer]] who played as a [[midfielder]].

Dimitrov previously played for [[Minyor Pernik]], [[FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia|Lokomotiv Sofia]], [[PFC Marek Dupnitsa|Marek Dupnitsa]] and [[PFC CSKA Sofia|CSKA Sofia]], and was part of the Bulgarian [[UEFA Euro 2004]] team. He has worked as a [[pundit]] since his retirement.

==Career==
He joined [[PFC CSKA Sofia|CSKA Sofia]] in 2002, brought in the team by the manager [[Stoycho Mladenov]].{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}.

In 2003, when Dimitrov won a number of individual awards as one of the best players in the [[First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|A PFG]], he was close to securing a move to [[FC Porto]], but the deal eventually fell through due to financial reasons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://topsport.ibox.bg/material/id_2097018520|publisher=topsport.bg|title=Велизар разкри учителите си за "велизарките", "подражавах на Емо Костадинов и Гиби Искренов|date=15 February 2014}}</ref>

=== Metalurh Donetsk ===
On 11 June 2008, Dimitrov signed with [[FC Metalurh Donetsk|Metalurh Donetsk]] on a 2+1-year deal for a reported fee of €500,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sportline.bg/news/9540/%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%80-%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2-%D0%B5-%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%87-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3-%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%86%D0%BA|publisher=sportline.bg|title=Велизар Димитров е играч на Металург Донецк|date=11 June 2008|language=Bulgarian}}</ref> He made his [[Ukrainian Premier League]] debut against [[FC Karpaty Lviv|Karpaty Lviv]] on 19 July, playing the full 90 minutes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2008/07/19/ukraine/premier-league/fc-metalurh-donetsk/fc-karpaty-lviv/640775/|publisher=soccerway.com|title=Metalurh Donetsk 1–0 Karpaty Lviv|date=19 July 2008}}</ref>

On 17 November 2012, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over [[FC Dynamo Kyiv|Dynamo Kyiv]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sportal.bg/news.php?news=397420|publisher=sportal.bg|title=Велизар Димитров в идеалния отбор на 16-ия кръг в Украйна|date=21 November 2012|language=Bulgarian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2012/11/17/ukraine/premier-league/fc-metalurh-donetsk/fc-dynamo-kyiv/1298631/|publisher=soccerway.com|title=Metalurh Donetsk 1–0 Dynamo Kyiv|date=17 November 2012}}</ref> He marked his 100th league appearance for Metalurh against [[FC Hoverla Uzhhorod|Hoverla Uzhhorod]] on 20 April 2013, by scoring a winning goal for a 2–1 home win.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sportal.bg/news.php?news=423086|publisher=sportal.bg|title=Като в приказка|date=21 April 2013|language=Bulgarian}}</ref>

== International career ==
Dimitrov played for the league based national side in an unofficial friendly against [[Azerbaijan national football team|Azerbaijan]] on 21 February 2002, scoring a goal for a 3–0 home win.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://more.info.bg/article.asp?articleID=58325&topicID=180&issueID=327|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628003922/http://more.info.bg/article.asp?articleID=58325&topicID=180&issueID=327|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 June 2013|publisher=more.info.bg|title=Националите ни с лекота се справиха с азерите|date=21 February 2002|language=Bulgarian}}</ref> He made his competitive debut for the national team in a 1–0 away loss against [[Spain national football team|Spain]] on 20 November 2002, coming on as a second-half substitute.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://more.info.bg/article.asp?articleID=89594&topicID=180&issueID=562|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628031242/http://more.info.bg/article.asp?articleID=89594&topicID=180&issueID=562|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 June 2013|publisher=more.info.bg|title=Испания – България 1:0|date=20 November 2002|language=Bulgarian}}</ref> On 20 August 2003, Dimitrov opened his senior international goals tally, scoring twice for a 3–0 win over [[Lithuania national football team|Lithuania]].

He was included in the Bulgaria [[UEFA Euro 2004|Euro 2004]] squad in May 2004 by [[Plamen Markov]] and came on as a second-half substitute in Bulgaria's opening game against [[Sweden men's national football team|Sweden]] on 14 June.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/3787511.stm|publisher=BBC|title=Sweden 5–0 Bulgaria|date=14 June 2004}}</ref> He was brought on once again in the match against [[Italy national football team|Italy]].

==Career statistics==
===Club===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|League
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|League
!colspan="2"|Cup
!colspan="2"|Continental
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps 
!Goals 
|-
|[[FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia|Lokomotiv Sofia]]
|rowspan="5"|[[First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|A Group]]
|[[1997–98 A Group|1997–98]]
|3||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||4||0
|-
|[[FC Minyor Pernik|Minyor Pernik]]
|[[1998–99 A Group|1998–99]]
|23||4||?||?||colspan="2"|—||22||4
|-
|[[FC Lovech|Litex]] (loan)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldfootball.net/player_summary/velizar-dimitrov/champions-league-qual/2/|publisher=worldfootball.net|title=Dimitrov Statistics for Litex}}</ref>
|[[1999–2000 A Group|1999–00]]
|0||0||0||0||2||0||2||0
|-
|[[FC Minyor Pernik|Minyor Pernik]]
|[[1999–2000 A Group|1999–00]]
|5||2||?||?||colspan="2"|—||5||2
|-
|[[FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia|Lokomotiv Sofia]]
|[[2000–01 A Group|2000–01]]
|2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||2||0
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[FC Marek Dupnitsa|Marek Dupnitsa]]
|[[Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|B Group]]
|2000–01
|8||4||?||?||colspan="2"|—||8||4
|-
|[[First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|A Group]]
|[[2001–02 A Group|2001–02]]
|35||14||0||0||colspan="2"|—||35||14
|-
! colspan=2 | Total
!43!!18!!?!!?!!0!!0!!43!!18
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!78!!10!!5!!2!!0!!0!!83!!12
|}

=== International goals ===
:''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.''

{|class="wikitable collapsible"
|-
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
|-
|1||rowspan="2"|20 August 2003||rowspan="2"|[[Vasil Levski National Stadium|Vasil Levski]], [[Sofia]], Bulgaria||rowspan="2"|{{fb|Lithuania}}||align=center|'''2'''–0||align=center rowspan="2"|3–0||rowspan="2"|[[Exhibition game|Friendly]]
|-
|2||align=center|'''3'''–0
|-
|3||17 November 2007||[[Vasil Levski National Stadium|Vasil Levski]], [[Sofia]], Bulgaria||{{fb|Romania}}||'''1'''–0||1–0|| [[UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group G|Euro 2008 qualifier]]
|}

== Honours ==
=== Club ===
;CSKA Sofia
* [[First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|A PFG]]: [[2002–03 A PFG|2002–03]], [[2004–05 A PFG|2004–05]], [[2007–08 A PFG|2007–08]]
* [[Bulgarian Cup]]: 2005–06
* [[Bulgarian Supercup]]: [[2006 Bulgarian Supercup|2006]]

;Metalurh Donetsk
* [[Ukrainian Cup]]: ''Runner-up'' [[2009–10 Ukrainian Cup|2009–10]], [[2011–12 Ukrainian Cup|2011–12]]
* [[Ukrainian Super Cup]]: ''Runner-up'' 2012

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{NFT player|pid=1089}}
* {{FFU}}

{{Bulgaria squad UEFA Euro 2004}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitrov, Velizar}}
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Bulgarian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine]]
[[Category:FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players]]
[[Category:FC Minyor Pernik players]]
[[Category:FC Marek Dupnitsa players]]
[[Category:PFC CSKA Sofia players]]
[[Category:FC Metalurh Donetsk players]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players]]
[[Category:First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players]]
[[Category:Ukrainian Premier League players]]
[[Category:Bulgaria men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Footballers from Pernik]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]