| Full name | Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 30 January 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov (Bulgarian: Димитър Иванов Бербатов, [diˈmitər bɛrˈbatɔf]) (born 30 January 1981)[2] is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a forward for English Premier League club Manchester United. He captained the Bulgarian national team from 2006 to 2010, and is its all-time leading goalscorer;[4] he 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 Blagoevgrad 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
Early life
Berbatov was born to Ivan and Margarita Berbatov, both themselves professional athletes: Ivan was a footballer with Pirin Blagoevgrad and CSKA Sofia,[6] while Margarita was a handball player.[8] His favoured team was the Italian club A.C. 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
Bulgaria
Pirin Blagoevgrad
Berbatov began his youth career with his home-town club, Pirin Blagoevgrad.CSKA Sofia
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
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.[21][12][30][31][32]
England
Tottenham Hotspur
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 matches, 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
Berbatov marked his Manchester United début with an assist to a Carlos Tévez goal away at Liverpool, but United lost the game 2–1.[62] 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.[63] 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.[64] 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.[65] When Manchester United won the Premier League on 16 May 2009, Berbatov became the first Bulgarian to win an English league title.[66] 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.[67]
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.[68] 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.[69] 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.[70] It was the first treble by a Manchester United player against Liverpool in 64 years.[71] 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.[72] 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.
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.[74] This made him the first United player since Ruud van Nistelrooy (in 2002–03) to score three hat-tricks in the same season.[75] 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.[76]
International career
Style of play
It is because of these characteristics that was signed by Manchester United, who intended for Berbatov to complement the combative and busy style of their English striker Wayne Rooney. Whereas Rooney is known for exerting himself vigourously for the entirety of a match, Berbatov employs a more laid-back and composed style, and because of this is sometimes criticised by observers who interpret this as laziness.[86][87] On signing for Manchester United, Berbatov attracted comparisons with former United forward Eric Cantona, not only because of his languid, skilful touch but also because of his bravado and perceived arrogance.[88]
Berbatov is, however, capable of adapting his style to play more directly when required; in April 2010, for example, with Rooney absent, Berbatov gave a performance against his former side Tottenham which, in James Ducker's words, was as if he had "decided to take it upon himself to impersonate the England striker". Combining uncharacteristic determination and effort with his regular technical skill, he contributed to the first Manchester United goal and helped United to a 2–1 victory
Honours
Club
- CSKA Sofia
- Bulgarian Cup (1): 1998–99
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Manchester United
- Premier League (1): 2008–09
- FA Community Shield (1): 2010
- Football League Cup (1): 2009–10
- FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008
Individual
- Bulgarian Man of the Year (1): 2009[93]
- Bulgarian Footballer of the Year (7): 2002,[94] 2004,[95] 2005,[96] 2007,[97] 2008,[98] 2009,[99] 2010[100]
- Tottenham Hotspur Club Player of the Year (1): 2006–07[101]
- PFA Premier League Team of the Year (1): 2006–07[102]
- Premier League Player of the Month (2): April 2007*,[103] January 2011[104]
- Premier League Golden Boot Landmark Award (1): 2010–11[105]
- IFFHS (1): Europe's World's Most Popular Footballer Amongst Currently Active Players in 2010
Personal life
berbatov wallpaper;
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