Dimitar Dushkov Penev (, born 12 July 1945) is a Bulgarian football coach and former player and central defender of CSKA Sofia. He played 90 games for Bulgaria national team and scored two goals.[ Dimitar Penev – International Appearances. Rsssf.com (22 January 2009). Retrieved on 21 July 2016.] He is regarded as one of his country's best ever defenders, winning Bulgarian footballer of the year in 1967 and 1971, he also participated in three world cups for his national team in 1966, 1970 and 1974.[ FIFA Tournaments – Players & Coaches – Dimitar PENEV. Fifa.com (1 July 2016). Retrieved on 21 July 2016.] He is Honorary President of CSKA Sofia and semi-pro side Nottingham United FC.[ Penev Becomes Nottingham United President!. nottinghamunitedfc.co.uk (November 2010)]
Personal life
Penev is uncle of former Bulgarian international and national team coach
Lyuboslav Penev.
Coaching career
Penev was manager of the Bulgaria national team during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where his team reached the semi-finals and then lost the bronze medal game with Sweden. Throughout his career as manager he demonstrated excellence in both tactics and team psychology. Penev's most notable quality was his ability to work well with young players. During his career at CSKA Sofia he discovered a lot of previously unknown or little-known talented youths and used them as a basis for a domestically and internationally successful squad. Amongst them
Hristo Stoichkov,
Emil Kostadinov,
Lyuboslav Penev,
Martin Petrov,
Stiliyan Petrov and
Dimitar Berbatov.
On 30 July 2007, he was appointed manager of the Bulgaria national team for the second time. Last he was the manager of CSKA Sofia, but on 6 March 2009 CSKA fired the coach – the Bulgarian team decided to sub him with his nephew Lyuboslav Penev, former player of CSKA Sofia, Celta Vigo, Valencia CF and Atlético Madrid.[ за главен мениджър. cska.sportal.bg (6 March 2009)]
Relevant statistics
As of April 2007, Penev has been in charge of the Bulgaria national team for 55 matches in total (25 wins, 15 draws, 15 losses, with a goal difference of 88:60).
[ Това е Димитър Пенев – Topsport.bg. Topsport.ibox.bg (25 April 2007). Retrieved on 21 July 2016.]
Honours
Player
Lokomotiv Sofia
CSKA Sofia
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A Group (7): 1965–66, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76
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Bulgarian Cup: 1965, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974
Manager
Bulgaria
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FIFA World Cup: fourth place 1994
