Dimitar Ivanov Ivankov (Bulgarian: Димитър Иванов Иванков; born 30 October 1975) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. However, he is known for his goals, especially from converting penalty kicks.[2] Ivankov is the sixth highest goalscoring goalkeeper of all time with 42 goals, and Number 1 in Europe under this indicator.[3]
Born in Sofia, Ivankov was raised in Levski Sofia's youth teams and is a passionate fan of the "bluemen".[4] For nine seasons he played in 275 matches and scored 25 goals. Ivankov was a champion of Bulgaria in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and the national cup winner for 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2005.
He joined Turkish club Kayserispor in June 2005. On 7 May 2008 he played a vital role in Kayseri winning the Turkish Cup, saving 3 penalties and scoring two himself.[5] Thus, he became the fourth Bulgarian to win the Turkish Cup.[6]
During three seasons with the club Ivankov earned 94 appearances playing in the Süper Lig, and scored six goals.
On 9 June 2008 he signed a contract with Bursaspor.[7] He scored a crucial goal against Fenerbahçe in the 95th minute. His goal made the game 2–1 to Bursapor.
In 2010, he scored the 42nd senior goal of his career, putting him in third place for the most goals scored by goalkeepers worldwide.[3] He won the TurkishSüper Lig with Bursasporin2010.
Ivankov earned his first cap with Bulgaria in 1998 and has since earned 64 caps for his country.[9] He was part of the Bulgarian squad at Euro 2004 in Portugal, but he did not play any single match in the competition as Zdravko Zdravkov was still at best performances in club and as number one of the Bulgarian national team. After Euro 2004 Ivankov was the first choice for goalkeeper of the Bulgarian team. On 3 March 2010, he played his last match for the national team in a friendly against Poland.[10]
