Dimitar Iliev named Bulgaria's best footballer of 2019

SOFIA - Dimitar Iliev, a forward of the Bulgarian club Lokomotiv Plovdiv, won on Sunday evening the 59th "Best Bulgarian Football Player of The Year" award.

The 31-year-old was recognized by a poll of 112 journalists from 44 media, followed by Anton Nedyalkov from Bulgaria's Ludogorets Razgrad, while Vasil Bozhikov from Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava came third.

He was proud to be among the winners of this prize, Iliev said at the award ceremony. "This was my childhood dream," he said.

Iliev also was named best forward, while Nedyalkov became best defender in the Balkan country.

Two more prizes went to the team from Razgrad -- Plamen Iliev was selected goalkeeper of the year, and Claudiu Keseru became the best foreign player in the Bulgarian championship.

Meanwhile, Todor Nedelev from Botev Plovdiv and Stanislav Ivanov from Levski Sofia were named best midfielder and best young player respectively. Stoycho Mladenov, the head coach of Kaysar from Kazakhstan, was selected coach of the year.