Dimitar Berbatov
Димитър Бербатов

Personal information
Full name	Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov[1]
Date of birth	(1981-01-30) 30 January 1981 (age 31)
Place of birth	Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria[2]
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)[3][4]
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Manchester United F.C.
Number	9
Youth career
	Pirin Blagoevgrad
	CSKA Sofia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2001	CSKA Sofia	49	(26)
2001	Bayer Leverkusen II	7	(6)
2001–2006	Bayer Leverkusen	154	(69)
2006–2008	Tottenham Hotspur	70	(27)
2008–	Manchester United	108	(49)
National team
1999	Bulgaria U18	2	(2)
1999	Bulgaria U21	1	(2)
1999–2010	Bulgaria	77	(48)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:54, 18 May 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov (Bulgarian: Димитър Иванов Бербатов, [diˈmitɐr bɛrˈbatɔf]); born 30 January 1981)^[2] is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United. He captained the Bulgarian national team from 2006 to 2010, and is its all-time leading goalscorer and has also won the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year a record seven times, surpassing the number of wins by Hristo Stoichkov.^[5]

Born in Blagoevgrad, Berbatov started out with home-town club Pirin before joining CSKA Sofia as a 17-year-old in 1998.^[6] He was signed by Bayer Leverkusen of Germany in January 2001 and played in his first Champions League final 18 months later, coming on as a substitute in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, which Leverkusen lost 2–1 to Real Madrid. After five-and-a-half years with Leverkusen, he joined English club Tottenham Hotspur in July 2006, where he spent two years before moving to Manchester United. He played in his second Champions League final in 2009, during his side's 2–0 defeat against FC Barcelona. Berbatov is the first non-Englishman in Premier League history to have scored five goals in a single match, having done so in Manchester United's 7–1 win over Blackburn Rovers in November 2010.^[7]

Early life[link]

Berbatov was born to Ivan and Margarita Berbatov, both themselves professional athletes: Ivan was a footballer with Pirin and CSKA Sofia,^[6] while Margarita was a handball player.^[8] His favoured team was the Italian club Milan, and he consequently modelled himself on Marco van Basten, the Dutch forward for that team. However, the 1996 European Championship, held in England, gave Berbatov a new role model; the 15-year-old Berbatov began to look up to the English front man Alan Shearer,^[9] who played for Newcastle United. Berbatov's mother later spoke of her son's teenage dream of playing for Newcastle United, and said that his admiration for Shearer was such that, during these years, he slept in a Newcastle shirt.^[10][11]

Club career[link]

Bulgaria[link]

Pirin Blagoevgrad[link]

Berbatov making a guest appearance for Pirin in a friendly in 2007

Berbatov began his youth career with his home-town club, Pirin, where his talent was spotted and he scored 77 goals for their reserve team in 92 appearances.^{[citation needed]}

CSKA Sofia[link]

Berbatov joined the youth squad of his father's former club, CSKA Sofia, after being spotted by scout and manager Dimitar Penev in 1998.^[12] He signed his first professional contract with the club and made his début during the 1998–99 season, at the age of 18. He won the Bulgarian Cup with CSKA at the end of that season. Berbatov's first game in Europe came in September 1999, in a 2–0 defeat against his childhood team Newcastle United;^[13][14] it was during that season, 1999–2000, that he started to make his name, scoring 14 goals in 27 league matches.

At the age of 18, Berbatov was kidnapped following a training session by Bulgarian gangster Georgi Iliev, who unsuccessfully attempted to convince the young forward to sign for his own club, Lokomotiv Plovdiv.^[15] Berbatov nearly signed for Italian Serie A side Lecce in June 2000, even passing a medical before the move collapsed at the last minute.^[16]

Bayer Leverkusen[link]

A run of nine goals in eleven games during the first half of the 2000–01 season was enough to persuade German club Bayer Leverkusen to pay €1.3 million to sign a four-year contract with Berbatov on 1 January 2001.^[17] Berbatov played for the club's reserve team in the Oberliga Nordrhein at first, and scored six goals in seven appearances before being promoted to the first team.^[18] He made his team début in a 4–3 pre-season friendly win against D.C. United, scoring a hat-trick.^[19] His league début for the first team came on 10 February 2001, replacing Ulf Kirsten in a 4–1 victory against 1. FC Köln.^[20] Berbatov found himself being used as a substitute by manager Berti Vogts, making six appearances and scoring no goals as Leverkusen finished fourth and qualified for the following season's UEFA Champions League.^[18]

During the next season, Berbatov scored 16 goals and made important contributions to the club's Champions League campaign,^[21][22] scoring in a 4–2 win over English club Liverpool in the quarter-finals as Leverkusen eventually reached the final.^[23] In the final itself, against Real Madrid, Berbatov came on as a substitute for Thomas Brdarić after 38 minutes before Leverkusen lost 2–1.^[24] Leverkusen also finished as runners-up in the Fußball-Bundesliga behind Borussia Dortmund,^[25] and lost the DFB–Pokal final 4–2 to Schalke 04,^[26][27] thus completing an unusual treble of runners-up finishes.^[28] Berbatov established his place as the first-choice forward during the next season, 2002–03, and netted his team's goal against Manchester United on 24 September 2002, during a 2–1 defeat for Leverkusen.^[29] He scored 16 goals in 24 league appearances during the 2003–04 season,^[21] before the following two seasons saw the Bulgarian raise awareness of his talent by netting 46 goals in the league over the two seasons and five times in the 2004–05 Champions League. During this time, he was linked with numerous foreign clubs, including Celtic, Atlético Madrid and Liverpool.^{[12][21][30][31][32]}

England[link]

Tottenham Hotspur[link]

Berbatov in 2008, in the colours of Tottenham Hotspur after a match against rivals Arsenal

Tottenham Hotspur reached an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen for Berbatov's transfer in May 2006;^[33][34] the fee of €16 million (£10.9 million) made him the most expensive Bulgarian footballer ever.^[35][36] After he was granted a British work permit, the transfer was completed on 1 July 2006.^[37] After Tottenham lost 2–0 to Bolton Wanderers in Berbatov's first league match in England on 19 August 2006,^[38] he scored his first goal for Spurs three days later in a 2–0 home victory against Sheffield United.^[39]

Berbatov's seven goals in eight European games during his début season for Tottenham helped the club to secure top spot during the UEFA Cup's group stage,^[40][41][42] making his second European debut in October 2006, scoring a goal during a 2–0 victory against Beşiktaş.^[43] He made a total of eight appearances, scoring seven goals as Tottenham were eliminated 3–4 on aggregate against Sevilla.^[44][45] However, he took a while to adapt to the Premier League, taking a few months to regain the league form he had shown at Leverkusen. He gave a strong performance against Wigan Athletic in November 2006, scoring one and creating the other two in a 3–1 win for Spurs,^[46] and began to score regularly.^[47] He scored his first FA Cup goals on 18 February 2007 when he came on as a second-half substitute in a 4–0 win over Fulham and netted two of the four goals.^[48] Berbatov and Spurs team-mate Robbie Keane were named joint winners of the Premier League Player of the Month award for April 2007, and in doing so became the first players to share the award since February 2004.^[49] He ended the 2006–07 season with 12 goals in 33 appearances in the Premier League,^[50] and won both the Tottenham Hotspur Player of the Season award and a place in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.^[51]

Berbatov scored his first Premier League hat-trick on 29 December 2007, scoring four in a 6–4 win over Reading.^[52] His first cup final for Tottenham came on 24 February 2008 in the Football League Cup; Spurs faced Chelsea at Wembley Stadium. Berbatov scored an equalising penalty as Tottenham went on to win the game 2–1 after extra time.^[53] He ended the season with 15 league goals.^[50] Before the next season, 2008–09, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was quoted by newspapers as saying he expected to sign Berbatov; Tottenham submitted a complaint to the Premier League alleging that Manchester United had broken league rules.^[54][55] Ongoing rumours of a substantial bid by Ferguson's club unsettled him, and Berbatov was dropped for the games against Sunderland and Chelsea during August, the season's first month.^[56]

Manchester United[link]

Berbatov moved to Manchester United on 1 September 2008, costing the club £30 million and signing a four-year contract making him the second most expensive player ever.^[57][58] Tottenham had also accepted a bid from Manchester City, but Berbatov claimed after signing for United that he "would not even have thought about Manchester City".^[59] Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, meanwhile, accused Tottenham of having used the complaint to the Premier League to negotiate a higher price for Berbatov from Manchester United.^[60]

Berbatov marked his Manchester United début at the age of 27, with an assist to a Carlos Tévez goal away at Liverpool, but United lost the game 2–1.^[61] His first two goals for the club came in the 3–0 win away to Aalborg BK in the Champions League group stage on 30 September 2008.^[62] He netted his first league goals in Manchester United colours during a 4–0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. Alex Ferguson defended Berbatov after he was criticised for missing a penalty during the 2008–09 FA Cup semi-final against Everton, which Manchester United eventually lost by a penalty shoot-out.^[63] Soon after, Berbatov scored the fifth of United's goals as they came back from 2–0 down at half-time to win 5–2 against his former team, Tottenham Hotspur.^[64] When Manchester United won the Premier League on 16 May 2009, Berbatov became the first Bulgarian to win an English league title.^[65] After Berbatov struggled to make an impact during the 2009–10 season, Berbatov was linked with away from Old Trafford, but this was denied by Ferguson.^[66]

Berbatov scored United's third goal in the 92nd minute of their 3–1 win over Chelsea in the 2010 Community Shield on 8 August.^[67] Eight days later, Berbatov scored his and United's first league goal of the season, opening the scoring in their 3–0 home victory over Newcastle United in the club's first match of the campaign.^[68] He scored his first hat-trick for United on 19 September, scoring all three of his team's goals in a 3–2 home win over rivals Liverpool; the second goal, an overhead kick, became a contender for the league's Goal of the Season.^[69] It was the first treble by a Manchester United player against Liverpool in 64 years.^[70] He made his 100th appearance for United on 10 November in a 0–0 away league draw in the Manchester derby on 11 November 2010.^[71] Sixteen days later, Berbatov tied a league record by scoring five goals in a game during a 7–1 home victory over Blackburn Rovers; he was the first non-Englishman to net five in a Premier League match, and joined Andrew Cole, Alan Shearer and Jermain Defoe as the only players overall to do so.^[7] He was named Bulgarian Footballer of the Year for a record seventh time on 20 December.^[72]

Berbatov netted his first goals of the 2011 calendar year with his third hat-trick of the season in a 5–0 home win over Birmingham City on 22 January.^[73] This made him the first United player since Ruud van Nistelrooy (in 2002–03) to score three hat-tricks in the same season.^[74] In January 2011, Berbatov was named by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics as Europe's most popular footballer among active players for 2010.^[75] After being dropped to the bench for games against Arsenal and Marseille, Berbatov returned as a second half substitute for Javier Hernandez against Bolton Wanderers on 19 March and scored the winner in the 88th minute (his 20th goal of the season), giving United a 1–0 victory.^[76] He scored his 21st in a following Premier League start against Fulham where United won 2–0. As top scorer of Premier League, Berbatov was a member of the PFA Team of the Year for the 2010–11 season alongside Carlos Tévez. Berbatov also shared the Premier League Golden Boot award with his former Manchester United teammate.^[77] On 28 May 2011, he was left out of the Manchester United squad for the Champions League Final, in which United lost 3–1 to Barcelona.^[78]

Berbatov played his first game of the season in an away match against West Bromwich Albion, coming on as a substitute replacing Danny Welbeck, a game which United won 2–1. Berbatov appeared from the substitute's bench against Chelsea, replacing the injured Javier Hernández. United won the game 3–1. Berbatov made his first start of the season in the following game, a Carling Cup third round clash with rivals Leeds United. He played the full game and was required to play at centre back for the last 10 minutes, when youngster Ezekiel Fryers picked up an injury and United had already used all three permitted substitutes. Berbatov struggled for chances on the night, but United did win the game 3–0. On 25 October 2011, he scored the first goal, after a neat passing build-up and also helped set up a goal for Michael Owen in a 3–0 win against Aldershot Town in the fourth round of the Carling Cup.^[79] On 22 November, Berbatov ended his long run without a goal in the Champions League by scoring the equaliser in a home game against Benfica in a 2–2 draw. On 21 December 2011, he came on as a second half substitute during a Premier League match against Fulham replacing Danny Welbeck. He scored his 50th goal for Manchester United in all competitions, thus becoming Manchester United's 50th player to score 50 goals for the club. This was also his first goal of the 2011–12 Premier League season. On 26 December 2011, Berbatov scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 win against Wigan Athletic. This was Berbatov's fourth Premier League hat trick for Manchester United and 5th overall in the division. In the next league game against Blackburn Rovers, Berbatov gave away a first half penalty when he dragged Chris Samba to the ground. In the second half, after going 2–0 behind, United responded quickly with two goals from Berbatov. The first he directed his header past the keeper after Rafael Da Silva's mishit cross and then he fired home Antonio Valencia's pullback to level the game. However United went on to lose the game 3–2. In the 2012 January transfer window, Berbatov was linked with a move to German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich, but this rumour was recently squashed by Sir Alex Ferguson who has decided to extend his contract for another year.^[80] On 31 January, Berbatov scored a goal in a 2-0 league win at Old Trafford against Stoke City, scoring the second of two penalties on the night.

International career[link]

Berbatov made his début for Bulgaria on 17 November 1999, aged 18, when he came on as a substitute for Aleksandar Aleksandrov in a 1–0 friendly loss against Greece.^[81][82] He scored his first goal for his country on 12 February 2000 in another friendly defeat, 3–2 against Chile,^[81][83] and represented Bulgaria at Euro 2004. This was the only major tournament he played at for his country, owing to the team's failure to qualify for other tournaments.^[84] He scored a hat-trick in the 6–2 home win in a 2010 World Cup qualification match against Georgia in October 2009, enabling him to bring his goal tally for the national side to 46 goals, just one short of the then all-time top scorer for Bulgaria, Hristo Bonev;^[85] after scoring two goals against Malta during a 4–1 friendly away win during the following month, he took the record.^[86] Berbatov captained the team from 2006 until May 2010,^[87] when he announced his retirement from international football, leaving his tally for Bulgaria standing at 48 goals from 77 matches.^[88] In February 2012, newly appointed Bulgaria head coach Luboslav Penev revealed that Berbatov was willing to consider coming out of international retirement and participate in an upcoming friendly against Hungary. Berbatov eventually decided against accepting a call-up for the match, as he didn't feel that he was in top shape, but has not ruled out a return to the national side at some point in the future.^[89]

International goals[link]

Under–21[link]

Updated to games played 3 September 1999.^[90]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	3 September 1999	Gutavallen, Visby	Sweden	1–0	4–1	2000 European Under-21 Football Championship qualifier
2.				2–1

Senior team[link]

Updated to games played 18 November 2009.^[81]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	12 February 2000	Estadio Playa Ancha, Valparaíso	Chile	1–2	2–3	Friendly
2.	11 October 2000	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen	Denmark	1–1	1–1	2002 World Cup qualifier
3.	24 March 2001	Balgarska Armiya Stadium, Sofia	Iceland	2–1	2–1	2002 World Cup qualifier
4.	6 June 2001	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík	Iceland	1–1	1–1	2002 World Cup qualifier
5.	1 September 2001	Ta' Qali National Stadium, Valletta	Malta	1–0	2–0	2002 World Cup qualifier
6.				2–0
7.	21 August 2002	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Germany	1–0	2–2	Friendly
8.	12 October 2002	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Croatia	2–0	2–0	Euro 2004 qualifier
9.	30 April 2003	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Albania	1–0	2–0	Friendly
10.				2–0
11.	7 June 2003	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Belgium	1–1	2–2	Euro 2004 qualifier
12.	20 August 2003	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Lithuania	2–0	3–0	Friendly
13.	6 September 2003	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Estonia	2–0	2–0	Euro 2004 qualifier
14.	10 September 2003	Estadi Comunal d'Aixovall, Andorra la Vella	Andorra	1–0	3–0	Euro 2004 qualifier
15.				2–0
16.	31 March 2004	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Russia	1–1	2–2	Friendly
17.				2–2
18.	28 April 2004	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Cameroon	1–0	3–0	Friendly
19.				2–0
20.	4 September 2004	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík	Iceland	1–0	3–1	2006 World Cup qualifier
21.				2–0
22.	9 October 2004	Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb	Croatia	2–2	2–2	2006 World Cup qualifier
23.	13 October 2004	Ta' Qali National Stadium, Valletta	Malta	1–1	4–1	2006 World Cup qualifier
24.				3–1
–	28 December 2004	Estadio Mestalla, Valencia	22x20px Valencian Community	1–0[91]	2–1	Friendly (unrecognized by FIFA)
25.	17 August 2005	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Turkey	1–1	3–1	Friendly
26.				3–1
27.	7 September 2005	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Iceland	1–2	3–2	2006 World Cup qualifier
28.	8 October 2005	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Hungary	1–0	2–0	2006 World Cup qualifier
29.	12 November 2005	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Georgia	3–0	6–2	Friendly
30.				4–0
31.	16 November 2005	Reliant Stadium, Houston	Mexico	3–0	3–0	Friendly
32.	7 February 2007	GSP Stadium, Nicosia	Cyprus	1–0	3–0	Friendly
33.				3–0
34.	2 June 2007	Dinamo Stadium, Minsk	Belarus	1–0	2–0	Euro 2008 qualifier
35.				2–0
36.	12 September 2007	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Luxembourg	1–0	3–0	Euro 2008 qualifier
37.				2–0
38.	17 October 2007	Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana	Albania	1–1	1–1	Euro 2008 qualifier
39.	21 November 2007	Arena Petrol, Celje	Slovenia	2–0	2–0	Euro 2008 qualifier
40.	20 August 2008	Bilino Polje, Zenica	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–0	2–1	Friendly
41.				2–0
42.	5 September 2009	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Montenegro	3–1	4–1	2010 World Cup qualifier
43.	10 October 2009	Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca	Cyprus	1–2	1–4	2010 World Cup qualifier
44.	14 October 2009	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Georgia	1–0	6–2	2010 World Cup qualifier
45.				3–0
46.				5–1
47.	18 November 2009	Hibernians Ground, Paola	Malta	2–1	4–1	Friendly
48.				4–1

Style of play[link]