Zahari Sirakov (; born 8 October 1977) is a Bulgarian football coach and a former player. He is the manager of Ludogorets Razgrad III.

Career

Sirakov started his career with Levski Kyustendil, but made a name for himself in Bulgaria while playing for Levski Sofia. On 24 September 1999, he scored a last-minute goal against Litex Lovech in an A Group match to bring the score to 1–1 in the heated derby encounter, prompting a brief pitch invasion by joyous Levski supporters. Sirakov was also notable for his sportsmanship, on one occasion shaking the hand of referee Atanas Uzunov after receiving a red card in a match against CSKA Sofia. He has remained popular with Bulgarian supporters even after starting his Russian adventures.

Zahari Sirakov

In February 2004, Sirakov signed with Russian club Amkar Perm. After more than 11 years with Amkar, Sirakov ended his career at the end of 2014–15 season.

Zahari Sirakov

International career

Sirakov made his debut for Bulgaria against Poland on 6 September 1998, but received his second cap in 2007 during UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying. In August 2010, he earned a recall to the national side due to an injury suffered by Georgi Sarmov and on 11 August 2010, he came on as a substitute in the 0–1 away loss in a friendly match against Russia.

Zahari Sirakov

Honours

Club

PFC Levski Sofia

Champion of Bulgaria -2000,2001

Bulgarian Cup 1998, 2000

APOEL

Cypriot Super Cup : 2002

References

External links

Profile at Amkar

1977 births

People from Smolyan

Living people

Bulgarian men's footballers

Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers

Bulgaria men's international footballers

Men's association football defenders

Velbazhd Kyustendil players

PFC Levski Sofia players

OFC Spartak Pleven players

APOEL FC players

FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players

FC Rodopa Smolyan players

FC Amkar Perm players

First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players

Cypriot First Division players

Russian Premier League players

Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers

Expatriate men's footballers in Russia

Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Russia

Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus

Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus

Bulgarian football managers