{{Short description|Bulgarian footballer (born 1988)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Atanas Kurdov | image = Nasko kurdov.jpg | image_size = 220 | caption = | fullname = Atanas Petrov Kurdov | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1988|09|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Plovdiv, Bulgaria | height = {{height|m=1.91}} | position = Striker | currentclub = Botev Ihtiman | clubnumber = 11 | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Levski Sofia | years1 = 2007–2010 | clubs1 = Bayer Leverkusen II | caps1 = 46 | goals1 = 14 | years2 = 2009 | clubs2 = → Winterthur (loan) | caps2 = 3 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 2010–2012 | clubs3 = Botev Plovdiv | caps3 = 46 | goals3 = 50 | years4 = 2012 | clubs4 = Lokomotiv Plovdiv | caps4 = 10 | goals4 = 0 | years5 = 2013–2014 | clubs5 = Slavia Sofia | caps5 = 22 | goals5 = 11 | years6 = 2014–2015 | clubs6 = Astana | caps6 = 25 | goals6 = 6 | years7 = 2015 | clubs7 = Levski Sofia | caps7 = 8 | goals7 = 0 | years8 = 2016 | clubs8 = Velbazhd Kyustendil | caps8 = ? | goals8 = ? | years9 = 2017 | clubs9 = Litex Lovech | caps9 = 4<ref>Appearances and goals incomplete due to lack of data.</ref> | goals9 = 2 | years10 = 2017 | clubs10 = Lokomotiv Sofia | caps10 = 1 | goals10 = 0 | years11 = 2019 | clubs11 = Slivnishki Geroy | caps11 = ? | goals11 = ? | years12 = 2020– | clubs12 = Botev Ihtiman | caps12 = 1 | goals12 = 1 | totalcaps = | totalgoals = | nationalyears1 = 2007–2009 | nationalteam1 = Bulgaria U21 | nationalcaps1 = | nationalgoals1 = | medaltemplates = | club-update = 5 April 2017 | nationalteam-update = }}
'''Atanas Petrov Kurdov''' ({{langx|bg|Атанас Петров Курдов}}; born 28 September 1988) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a striker for Botev Ihtiman. His father is former player and manager Petar Kurdov.
==Career==
===Youth career=== Kurdov is a product of the Levski Sofia's Youth Academy. In 2007, he spent weeks on a trial period in Celtic FC and Tottenham Hotspur. All in all, Kurdov signed for Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
===Bayer 04 Leverkusen=== On 9 July 2007, Kurdov signed a four-year contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. In his first season there, Atanas capped 26 times and scored 10 goals for the reserves team. In the summer of 2010 he was released from the club.
===Botev Plovdiv=== After being released from Bayer 04 Leverkusen he signed with Bulgarian V AFG side Botev Plovdiv on 24 August, despite being wanted by his youth club Levski Sofia earlier that summer. He was top scorer in the third tier in 2010–11, with 46 goals in the South East V FG.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bulgarian-football.com/bg/yiv.html |title=Югоизточна "В" ФГ 2010/11 |language=Bulgarian |trans-title=South East "V" FG |website=bulgarian-football.com |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629090958/http://www.bulgarian-football.com/bg/yiv.html |archivedate=29 June 2011}}</ref> He also scored 3 goals in 3 minutes against Stambolovo. In January 2011, Kurdov was approached by newly promoted A PFG club Ludogorets Razgrad, but his transfer fell through, due to the accusations of being a glory seeker from the Botev fans. On June 26, 2012, he was released from Botev Plovdiv along with 15 other players.
===Lokomotiv Plovdiv=== After a one-week trial, on 25 August 2012, Kurdov joined Botev's eternal rivals Lokomotiv Plovdiv on a year contract. His move to Lokomotiv remains very controversial keeping in mind his family's history with Botev (his father and older brother Evgeni also played for Botev).
===FC Astana=== On 26 February 2014, Kurdov signed for Kazakhstan Premier League side Astana.<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ru:АТАНАС КУРДОВ ПОДПИСАЛ КОНТРАКТ С «АСТАНОЙ»|url=http://fca.kz/rus/news/3475/|website=fca.kz|publisher=FC Astana|accessdate=7 July 2014|language=Russian|archive-date=28 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128132142/http://fca.kz/rus/news/3475/|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 19 April, he scored three goals in the 4:3 away win over Irtysh Pavlodar in a Kazakhstan Premier League match.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://topsport.ibox.bg/material/id_1222737176|title=Курдов избухна с хеттрик срещу "Иртиш", "Астана: бие с 4:3|accessdate=20 April 2014 |date=19 April 2014|language=Bulgarian|trans-title=Kurdov explodes with a hat-trick against "Irtysh", "Astana" win by a score of 4:3|publisher=topsport.bg}}</ref>
===Levski Sofia=== He returned to his youth club Levski Sofia in the summer 2015, but had difficulty establishing himself as a regular player under manager Stoycho Stoev and parted ways with the "bluemen" in November.
===Lokomotiv Sofia=== On 29 June 2017, Kurdov signed a 1-year contract with Lokomotiv Sofia. On 3 August 2017, Kurdov released his contract with club.<ref>{{cite web | title = Локо Сф взе и Атанас Курдов | url = https://gong.bg/bg-football/vtora-liga/multimedia/video/loko-sf-vze-i-atanas-kurdov-438694? | publisher = gong.bg | date = 29 June 2017 | language = Bulgarian}}</ref>
===Slivnishki Geroy=== In February 2019, Kurdov joined FC Slivnishki Geroy Slivnitsa.<ref>[https://topsport.bg/amateur/atanas-kurdov-prodalzhava-karierata-si-v-slivnishki-geroy.html Атанас Курдов продължава кариерата си в Сливнишки герой], topsport.bg, 21 February 2019</ref>
== Honours == ;Astana * Kazakhstan Premier League (1): 2014
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.imscouting.com/players/atanas-kurdov/ Kurdov at IMScouting] * {{Soccerway|atanas-kurdov/16387}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurdov, Atanas}} Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Plovdiv Category:Bulgarian men's footballers Category:Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Category:Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Category:Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Category:Bayer 04 Leverkusen II players Category:FC Winterthur players Category:Botev Plovdiv players Category:PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players Category:PFC Slavia Sofia players Category:FC Astana players Category:PFC Levski Sofia players Category:Velbazhd Kyustendil players Category:FC Lovech players Category:FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players Category:FC Botev Ihtiman players Category:Challenge League (Switzerland) players Category:First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Category:Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Category:Kazakhstan Premier League players Category:Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Category:Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Category:Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Category:Men's association football forwards Category:21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen