Ivan Tsvetkov (; born 31 August 1979) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He works as an assistant manager and is employed as a scout for Ludogorets Razgrad.
Born in Blagoevgrad, Tsvetkov took up football with local side Pirin. At the age of 18, he joined Dutch SC Heerenveen's youth academy. In 1998 Tsvetkov started his senior career and during his two seasons at Abe Lenstra Stadion, he scored 2 goals in 16 matches.
In summer of 2000, Tsvetkov joined BV Veendam. After 18 goals in his first season, he was named as the Eerste Divisie top scorer at the close of the following 2001âÂÂ02 season with a total of 22 goals in the league.
In July 2002, Tsvetkov transferred to Zwolle after Veendam accepted an undisclosed bid. He spent two years at Zwolle, where he capped 41 times and scored 1 goal, before moved to Helmond Sport.
In January 2007 after making 41 appearances for Sparta Rotterdam, Tsvetkov was transferred to Turkish side Sivasspor. He scored his first Süper Lig hat-trick on 30 March 2007, scoring four in a 4âÂÂ0 win over Kasñmpaà Âa.
On 27 August 2008, Tsvetkov signed for Azerbaijani club Khazar Lankaran. During that season, Ivan became a topscorer of his team, scoring 15 goals, and the second best goalscorer of the league.
On 4 March 2011, Tsvetkov returned to Bulgaria and signed for Pirin Blagoevgrad on a rolling contract until the end of the season. On 2 April, in a 3âÂÂ0 home victory over Montana, he netted his first goal in an A PFG match and assisted Krum Bibishkov and Anton Karachanakov. Four days later Tsvetkov scored his first Bulgarian Cup goal as he netted the first in a 2âÂÂ1 away victory over Lokomotiv Plovdiv. He continued his goal scoring form on 30 April, scoring the opening goal in the 2âÂÂ0 home win over Beroe. On 4 May Ivan scored twice in a 3âÂÂ2 home defeat to Levski Sofia. Tsvetkov's 5th Pirin league goal came during a 2âÂÂ2 away draw against Lokomotiv Plovdiv on 7 May. On 14 May, he scored the fifth goal of a 6âÂÂ0 home victory over Akademik Sofia. Four days later, Tsvetkov scored Pirin's second in a 2âÂÂ2 away draw against CSKA Sofia. On 21 May, he netted from a free-kick in a 1âÂÂ1 home draw against Chernomorets Burgas, securing Pirin's place in the top flight for the next season.
In June 2011, Tsvetkov signed for Levski Sofia. On 2 July, he made his unofficial debut and netted the only goal in the 1âÂÂ0 win against Lokomotiv Sofia in an exhibition match, which marked the end of former Bulgarian international Georgi Markov's professional football career. His official debut for Levski came on 28 July 2011 â he played the full 90 minutes in the 2âÂÂ1 win over Slovak side Spartak Trnava in a UEFA Europa League match. On 8 August 2011, in his first A PFG match for Levski, he scored the only goal in the 1âÂÂ0 win against Slavia Sofia. On 28 October 2011, Tsvetkov made his first appearance in The Eternal Derby of Bulgaria, coming on as a late substitute in the 0âÂÂ1 loss against CSKA Sofia. On 23 November 2011, he scored the only goal for Levski in the 1âÂÂ0 win over FC Bansko in a 2011âÂÂ12 Bulgarian Cup match. Tsvetkov netted his first hat-trick for Levski in the 7âÂÂ0 rout over Svetkavitsa on 23 May 2012.
In June 2012, Tsvetkov signed a two-year contract with newly promoted A Group side Botev Plovdiv.
In his debut for Botev on 11 August 2012, Tsvetkov scored a hattrick and missed a penalty kick to help his team to a 3âÂÂ0 home win over Slavia Sofia. On 9 March 2013, he scored the second goal for Botev in the 2âÂÂ0 milestone home win (the first one in 16 years) over Levski Sofia. Tsvetkov has since become the team's captain and ended his first season as the second highest goalscorer with 17 goals.
In May 2013, Tsvetkov sustained an injury which kept him out of action for 5 months. He spent most of the time during this season on the bench and finished it with only three goals in the league.
On 12 October 2013, Tsvetkov marked his return with a goal in the 3âÂÂ0 win over Neftochimic Burgas in a Bulgarian Cup match. On 16 March 2014, he scored the winning goal in the 2âÂÂ1 victory over Lokomotiv Plovdiv. Tsvetkov came as a substitute and four minutes later scored the second goal for the 2âÂÂ0 win against Levski Sofia on 26 April 2014.
Tsvetkov has among the few players which agreed to reduce their wages and remained at the club for season 2014âÂÂ15 despite the financial crisis. He scored his first goal for the club in Europa League against A.C. Libertas. Botev Plovdiv won the game with 4âÂÂ0. Tsvetkov scored again in the same competition during the 2âÂÂ1 home win against the Austrian team SKN St. Pölten.
On 27 June, Tsvetkov scored a late equalizer in the away game against Beroe Stara Zagora. Two weeks later, on 9 August, he scored the opening goal in the dramatic 3âÂÂ3 draw against Litex Lovech. His excellent performance continued on 30 August 2014 during the 7th round of A Group when he scored a goal and made an assist during the second half of the game with Haskovo.
On 12 September, Tsvetkov was brought on as a substitute in the match against Ludogorets Razgrad and scored his 4th goal for the season from a penalty kick. Despite his good performance, Botev was defeated 2âÂÂ1. The excellent performance of Tsvetkov this season continued in the first round of the Bulgarian Cup. On 23 September, he scored the opening goal in the away game against Lokomotiv Mezdra which was won by Botev Plovdiv with final score 0âÂÂ4. On 27 September, Tsvetkov played his 100th match in the league and scored a goal for the 2âÂÂ0 win over the local rivals Lokomotiv Plovdiv. He scored his seventh goal for the season in the league on 24 October during the 3âÂÂ1 win over Beroe. the first one in seven years. On 3 December, Tsvetkov scored another goal for the Bulgarian Cup tournament during the derby match against Lokomotiv Plovdiv. Despite his efforts Botev was dramatically defeated with two goals in the last six minutes of the game.
On 16 May, Tsvetkov performed extremely well during the 3âÂÂ2 victory over CSKA Sofia. He provided an assist to Lachezar Baltanov for the second goal and scored the third goal for Botev. Tsvetkov received the award for man of the match. He was named the second-place winner of the best player in A Group for the 2014âÂÂ15 season. Tsvetkov announced his retirement at the end of the campaign.
Tsvetkov was part of the Bulgaria U21 roster for one game.
In November 2012, Tsvetkov was called up to the Bulgaria national team by head coach Lyuboslav Penev for a friendly match against Ukraine. He earned his only cap on 14 November, playing 27 minutes in the 0âÂÂ1 defeat against the Ukrainians.
In January 2017, Tsvetkov returned to Pirin Blagoevgrad as player and assistant to manager Milen Radukanov.
Tsvetkov also holds Dutch citizenship. In 2003, he had to give up his Bulgarian nationality in order to acquire a Dutch passport, but in November 2012 Tsvetkov reclaimed his Bulgarian citizenship.
SC Heerenveen
Botev Plovdiv
Individual