Svetoslav Kovachev (Bulgarian: Светослав Ковачев; born 14 March 1998) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Arda Kardzhali.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Svetoslav Svetlozarov Kovachev | ||
| Date of birth | (1998-03-14) 14 March 1998 (age 24) | ||
| Place of birth | Pleven, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Arda Kardzhali | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2010 | Svoboda Milkovitsa | ||
| 2010–2011 | Spartak Pleven | ||
| 2011–2016 | Ludogorets Razgrad | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2018 | Ludogorets II | 54 | (10) |
| 2016–2021 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 10 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | → Dunav Ruse (loan) | 28 | (5) |
| 2019 | → Etar (loan) | 19 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Arda Kardzhali (loan) | 24 | (5) |
| 2021– | Arda Kardzhali | 33 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2015–2016 | Bulgaria U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2016–2018 | Bulgaria U19 | 15 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | Bulgaria U21 | 7 | (0) |
| 2020– | Bulgaria | 4 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:00, 14 September 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2020 | |||
His younger brother Lachezar is also a footballer, currently playing for Levski Lom.
Born in Pleven, Kovachev started his career in Svoboda Milkovitsa.[2] He joined Ludogorets in 2011 recruited by the Bulgarian legend Plamen Getov.[3] In 2014, he played for Ludogorets U19 in the UEFA Youth League, being a starter in all of the 6 matches.[4]
He made his debut for Ludogorets Razgrad II on 6 December 2015 in a match against FC Pirin Razlog.[5]
On 22 May 2016 he made his complete debut in A Group for Ludogorets in a match against Beroe Stara Zagora.[6]
Kovachev started the 2017-18 season in Ludogorets II by scoring a goal in the first match of the season against Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia.[7] On 29 July 2017 he played for the main team in the 0-0 draw against Lokomotiv Plovdiv coming as a substitute in the First League match.[8] Kovachev was on the bench for the Europa League group stage match against İstanbul Başakşehir, but stayed as an unused substitute.[9] On 21 September 2017 he made his debut for the Bulgarian Cup in the first round against Oborishte.[10]
Kovachev was named captain for the Ludogorets U19 team in the UEFA Youth League in the first match from the Domestic Champions Path against Željezničar U19 on 27 September 2017.[11]
On 15 February 2018 Kovachev was named on bench for the Europa League Round of 32 match against Milan and made his debut as a substitute in the 81st minute.[12][13]
In June 2018, Kovachev was loaned to Dunav Ruse, although he spend the pre-season camp with Ludogorets first team.[14] He made his debut for the team in the first league match of the season against Vitosha Bistritsa on 20 July 2018, assisting for the only goal for Dunav.[15]
On 4 November 2018 he scored his first goal for the team in First League, netting the second goal for the 3:0 win over Vitosha Bistritsa.[16]
Kovachev joined Arda Kardzhali on a year long loan on 6 January 2020.[17] He returned to Ludogorets team in end of December 2020, having a contract with Razgrad team until July 2021, which he didn't extend.[18] In February 2021 he signed a 3 year pre-contract with Arda, from July 2021, leaving him out of Ludogorets team until end of the season.[19]
Kovachev was called up for the Bulgaria U19 team for the 2017 European Under-19 Championship qualification from 22 to 27 March 2017.[20] After a draw and 2 wins the team qualified for the knockout phase which will be held in July 2017.[21]
Kovachev made his debut for Bulgaria U21 on 27 March 2018 in a European Undr-21 qualification match against Kazakhstan U21, keeping a clean sheet for the 3:0 win. [22]
Kovachev received his first call-up for senior Bulgarian squad on 29 August 2018 for the UEFA Nations League matches against Slovenia and Norway on 6 and 9 September.[23] He earned his first cap on 26 February 2020, coming on as a substitute for Ismail Isa during the second half of the 0:1 home loss against Belarus in a friendly game.[24]
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | League | Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| Bulgaria | League | Bulgarian Cup | Europe | Other[lower-alpha 1] | Total | ||||||||
| Ludogorets Razgrad II | B Group | 2015–16 | 11 | 2 | – | – | – | 11 | 2 | ||||
| Second League | 2016–17 | 19 | 2 | – | – | – | 19 | 2 | |||||
| 2017–18 | 24 | 6 | – | – | – | 24 | 6 | ||||||
| Total | 54 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 10 | |||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | A Group | 2015–16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| First League | 2016–17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |||
| Dunav Ruse (loan) | First League | 2018–19 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 32 | 5 | ||
| Etar Veliko Tarnovo (loan) | 2019–20 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 0 | ||||
| Arda Kardzhali (loan) | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 2 | |||||
| 2020–21 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 3 | |||||
| Career statistics | 135 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 144 | 20 | |||
| Bulgaria national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 0 |
FC Arda Kardzhali – current squad | |
|---|---|