Todor Diev Explained

Todor Diev
Fullname:Todor Nedyalkov Diev
Birth Date:28 January 1934
Years1:1950–1952
Clubs1:Spartak Plovdiv
Years2:1952–1953
Clubs2:Spartak Sofia
Years3:1953–1966
Clubs3:Spartak Plovdiv
Totalcaps:308
Totalgoals:146
Nationalyears1:1955–1965
Nationalcaps1:55
Nationalgoals1:16
Pcupdate:22 November 2012
Ntupdate:22 November 2012

Todor Nedyalkov Diev (Bulgarian: Тодор Недялков Диев; 28 January 1934 – 6 January 1995) was a Bulgarian footballer, part of the Bulgarian squad that won the bronze medals in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.[1]

Career

Diev began his career at the local Spartak Plovdiv. He made his professional debut in 1950 and since then he played in 308 matches and scored 146 goals. He had a brief period in Spartak Sofia in 1952–1953. He won the Bulgarian A Professional Football Group in 1963 and the Soviet Army Cup in 1958. Diev was crowned as championship top scorer for three times in 1955, 1962 and 1963. He is one of the legends of Spartak Plovdiv. He was recognized as all-time best player of the club.[2]

Todor made his international debut on 13 November 1955, when he scored a goal against Czechoslovakia in a 3–0 win in Sofia. He was capped 55 times for Bulgaria national team and scored 16 goals. Diev played for the team in 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile[3] and won a bronze medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. His most remarkable goal was against Brazil on 18 May 1958 at Estádio do Morumbi. After the match, he received an offer for transfer to a Brazilian club, but he refused.[4] Diev was the national team's captain from 20 December 1964 until his retirement. His last international match was against Belgium on 27 October 1965, Bulgaria lost 5–0 in Brussels.[5]

Honours

Spartak Plovdiv (1953–1966)

1962–63

Bulgaria (1955–1965)
Individual

1955, 1962–63

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Todor Diev . Olympedia . 1 December 2021.
  2. http://spartakpd.info/history.php History of Spartak Plovdiv
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20070702123511/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=21/teams/team=43936.html The Bulgarian squad for 1962 FIFA World Cup Chile
  4. http://marica.bg/show.php?id=18613 15 years passed from Diev's death
  5. http://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=4732 Todor Diev international appearances, matches and goals – eu-football.info