Ivaylo Chochev

Bulgarian footballer
Ivaylo Chochev
Chochev playing for CSKA in 2013
Personal information
Full name Ivaylo Lyudmilov Chochev
Date of birth (1993-02-18) 18 February 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Pleven, Bulgaria
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Ludogorets Razgrad
Number 18
Youth career
1999–2008 Spartak Pleven
2008–2010 Chavdar Etropole
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2012 Chavdar Etropole 61 (17)
2013–2014 CSKA Sofia 50 (8)
2014–2019 Palermo 116 (12)
2019–2020 Pescara 0 (0)
2020–2024 CSKA 1948 94 (43)
2024– Ludogorets Razgrad 9 (1)
International career‡
2009 Bulgaria U17 3 (0)
2010–2011 Bulgaria U19 5 (0)
2012–2014 Bulgaria U21 9 (3)
2015– Bulgaria 44 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:18, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 March 2024

Ivaylo Lyudmilov Chochev (Bulgarian: Ивайло Людмилов Чочев; born 18 February 1993) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ludogorets Razgrad and the Bulgarian national team.

Career

Early career

Born in Pleven, Chochev began his career with local club Spartak Pleven, before moving to Chavdar Etropole in 2008.[2]

CSKA Sofia

On 16 January 2013, Chochev joined A Group club CSKA Sofia.[3] He made his debut in a 2–0 home win against Chernomorets Burgas on 10 March 2013.[4]

Chochev swiftly became a regular starter. During 2013–14 season he established himself as a key member of the team. On 12 February 2014, it was officially announced that Chochev had signed a new three-year contract and doubled his previous salary.[5]

Palermo

On 11 July 2014, Chochev moved to Serie A club Palermo, signing a three-year contract.[6] Monaco and Wolfsburg were also keen on signing him but were not able to come to an agreement in time. Chochev scored his first goal for Palermo on 8 August, netting the tenth in a 12–0 pre-season friendly win over Calciochiese. He made his Serie A debut on 5 October against Empoli, coming on for the last 18 minutes in place of Franco Vázquez as Palermo lost 1–0 at Stadio Carlo Castellani. On 19 October, Chochev started for first time, playing 66 minutes in a 2–1 home win over Cesena. He scored his first Serie A goal on 12 April 2015, in a 3–1 away win over Udinese at Stadio Friuli. A week later on 19 April 2015, he scored another two goals against Genoa in a 2–1 home victory. His outstanding performances, both against Udinese and Genoa, saw him being named Man of the Match twice. On 22 June 2015, Chochev signed a new five-year contract.[7]

On 25 September 2017, he provided two assists in a 2–1 home win over Pro Vercelli. He scored his first league goal of the season and received the man of the match award in a 2–2 away draw against Pescara on 3 November. He scored a volley from outside the box on 19 May 2018, in the last match of the regular season against Salernitana, in a 0-2 away win.

Pescara

In June 2019 Chochev joined Pescara, but never played because of his long recovery process from an injury he sustained in March 2019.

CSKA 1948

In the summer of 2020, Chochev returned to Bulgaria to sign with the newly promoted to First League team CSKA 1948. He returned in play on 18 October 2020, more than a year and a half after his injury.[8]

Ludogorets

On 15 February, Chochev signed for Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad for a reported fee in the region of a million.[9]

International career

Chochev made his debut with the Under 21 national team during the Under-21 European Championship qualifying category in 2013.

He was called up to the senior national team for a friendly against Canada on 23 May 2014. He made his debut with the national team on 8 June 2015 in a 4–0 friendly loss against Turkey.[10] He made his first start playing the full 90 minutes on 3 September 2015 as Bulgaria lost 0–1 to Norway in Sofia.

Chochev scored his first goal with the national team on June 3, 2016 during the 2016 Kirin Cup in a 2–7 defeat to Japan.[11]

On 31 August 2017, Chochev scored the winning goal for the 3–2 win over Sweden.[12]

On 22 March 2019, Chochev received a heavy injury in a qualification match against Montenegro.

After initially not being in new manager Mladen Krstajić's plans, Chochev was recalled to the national side for the June 2023 Euro qualifiers against Lithuania and Serbia.[13]

Honours

  • Best midfielder in Bulgarian football for 2021[14]
  • Bulgarian First League Top Scorer: 2022–23[15]
  • 3rd place in the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year ranking - 2022, 2023[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of 25 April 2024
Club Season Division League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Chavdar Etropole 2010–11 B Group 27 3 0 0 – 27 3
2011–12 21 6 0 0 – 21 6
2012–13 13 8 1 0 – 14 8
Total 61 17 1 0 0 0 62 17
CSKA Sofia 2012–13 A Group 10 0 2 0 0 0 12 0
2013–14 35 7 3 1 – 38 8
Total 45 7 5 1 0 0 50 8
Palermo 2014–15 Serie A 18 3 0 0 – 18 3
2015–16 27 0 1 0 – 28 0
2016–17 30 3 1 1 – 31 4
2017–18 Serie B 29 5 2 0 – 31 5
2018–19 12 1 0 0 – 12 1
Total 116 12 4 1 0 0 120 13
Pescara 2019–20 Serie B 0 0 0 0 – 0 0
CSKA 1948 2020–21 First League 16 3 2 1 – 18 4
2021–22 30 13 1 0 – 31 13
2022–23 31 21 5 3 – 36 24
2023–24 19 6 2 1 0 0 21 7
Total 96 43 10 5 0 0 106 48
Ludogorets Razgrad 2023–24 First League 9 1 1 0 0 0 10 1
Career total 327 80 21 7 0 0 348 87

International

As of 25 March 2024
Bulgaria
Year Apps Goals
2015 4 0
2016 8 1
2017 7 2
2018 2 0
2019 1 0
2020 0 0
2021 9 1
2022 4 0
2023 7 0
2024 2 0
Total 44 4
As of match played 5 September 2021. Bulgaria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Chochev goal.[17]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 3 June 2016 Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan 7  Japan 2–7 2–7 2016 Kirin Cup
2 31 August 2017 Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria 13  Sweden 3–2 3–2 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 10 October 2017 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg 15  Luxembourg 1–1 1–1
4 5 September 2021 Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria 26  Lithuania 1–0 1–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

References

  1. ^ "Ивайло Чочев от Чавдар (Етрополе) пред трансфер при "оранжевите"". balkanec.bg. 16 June 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  2. ^ Плевенчанинът Ивайло Чочев заби победния гол в мача България - Швеция 1 September 2017, dariknews.bg
  3. ^ ЦСКА взима Ивайло Чочев без пари от Чавдар (Етрополе) 13.12.2012, http://sporta.bg
  4. ^ ЦСКА 2:0 Черноморец Archived 2013-03-15 at the Wayback Machine 10.03.2013, topsport.bg
  5. ^ ЦСКА преподписа с младата си звезда, вдигна му парите двойно Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine 12.02.2014, cska.bg
  6. ^ "CSKA Sofia midfielder Chochev joins Palermo". reuters.com. 11 July 2014.
  7. ^ "CHOCHEV RINNOVA FINO AL 2020" (in Italian). U.S. Città di Palermo. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  8. ^ Чочев отново в игра след 575 дни далеч от футболните терени
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ "Turkey vs. Bulgaria 4:0". flashscore.com. 2015-06-08. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
  11. ^ "Japan 7 Bulgaria 2: Kagawa at the double in dominant win". Sportal. 3 June 2016. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  12. ^ Хубчев преобрази България, натрихме ноcа на шведите
  13. ^ Koleva, Hristina (30 May 2023). "Кръстаич обяви избраните национали за мачовете с Литва и Сърбия - Чочев се завръща" (in Bulgarian). trud.bg. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  14. ^ Kichukov, Simeon (19 January 2022). "За втори път Кирил Десподов е Футболист на №1 на България". dnevnik.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Players: Topscorers". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  16. ^ Kichukov, Simeon (18 March 2024). "Три зад Бербатов, една зад Стоичков: Кирил Десподов e Футболист №1 за четвърти път". dnevnik.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  17. ^ Ivaylo Chochev at Soccerway

External links

  • Ivaylo Chochev at Soccerway
  • Player Profile at UEFA
  • v
  • t
  • e
Bulgarian First League top scorers
  • v
  • t
  • e
PFC Ludogorets Razgrad – current squad