Emil Kostadinov


Emil Lyubchov Kostadinov is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a forward and represented the Bulgaria national team at two World Cups.

Club career

Born in Sofia, Kostadinov started his career in CSKA Sofia. There he formed a redoubtable trio with Hristo Stoichkov and Luboslav Penev in the late 1980s, helping the team to win three times the Bulgarian Championship title, three times the Bulgarian Cup and reached the semi-final of the Cup Winners' Cup.
He played for FC Porto from 1990 to 1994, winning the Portuguese league twice, and becoming popular among Portuguese fans. He also played for Deportivo de La Coruña, Bayern Munich, Fenerbahçe, Mainz 05, and UANL Tigres.

International career

Kostadinov played in the 1985 FIFA World Youth Championship scoring two goals. He was a member of the Bulgaria national team from 1988 to 1998. He earned 70 caps in which he scored 27 goals.
Kostadinov gained international prominence after scoring two goals in the last matchday of the European 1994 World Cup qualification, against the France national team. He scored his second goal in the last second of the match with a shot with his right foot from inside the French penalty area that sent the ball into the roof of the net. That match-winning goal enabled Bulgaria to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals at the expense of France.
After helping Bulgaria qualify for the 1994 World Cup, he was a part of the squad that reached the semi-finals in the proper tournament, again in partnership with Hristo Stoichkov. He played all seven games but did not score. During the game against Italy in the semi-final, Kostadinov was fouled by Alessandro Costacurta in the penalty area, who later committed a handball offence there as well. Both actions were not given penalties, which sparked a lot of controversy, as Bulgarians accused the French referee Joël Quiniou of purposefully ignoring the situations to get "revenge" for the decisive qualifying game between Bulgaria and France at the Parc des Princes, which saw the former qualifying to the World Cup at the expense of the latter.
He also played at the Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup, both tournaments in which Bulgaria did not reach the second round. He scored one goal in the 1998 World Cup against Spain in the group stages. He retired before the qualifying campaign for Euro 2000.

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
124 December 1988Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates1–01–0Friendly match
221 February 1989Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria1–01–2Friendly match
35 May 1990Estádio Brinco de Ouro da Princesa, Campinas, Brazil1–11–2Friendly match
427 March 1991Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland1–11–1Euro 1992 qualifier
51 May 1991Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria1–02–3Euro 1992 qualifier
625 September 1991Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria1–02–1Friendly match
728 April 1992Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland2–02–0Friendly match
814 May 1992Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland2–03–01994 World Cup qualifier
914 May 1992Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland3–03–01994 World Cup qualifier
1017 November 1993Parc des Princes, Paris, France1–12–11994 World Cup qualifier
1117 November 1993Parc des Princes, Paris, France2–12–11994 World Cup qualifier
1212 October 1994Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria|1990

Honours

CSKA Sofia
Porto
Bayern Munich
Bulgaria