Petar Mihtarski

Born in Blagoevgrad, Mihtarski spent the first 13 years of his career (youth years included) with local OFC Pirin, making his first-team – and First Professional Football League – debuts in 1982–83, appearing in eight games and scoring four goals in an eventual relegation. He went on to score in double digits in five of the following six seasons. In the summer of 1989, Mihtarski signed for PFC Levski Sofia, netting 24 times in his debut campaign and winning one Bulgarian Cup during his two-year spell. Subsequently, he joined FC Porto in Portugal, being barred by countryman Emil Kostadinov for most of his stay and also being loaned twice to fellow Primeira Liga side F.C. Famalicão; in his first year, however, he did manage five goals in only 11 games as the northerners won the national championship for the third time in five years. In February 1994, Mihtarski was released by Porto and rejoined Pirin, netting five times in three months to help the club retain its top flight status. He then joined PFC CSKA Sofia, equalling a career-best 24 goals in the 1994–95, best in the competition but not good enough for the national title, as former team Levski won the championship with CSKA ranking only fifth. On 23 September 1994, Mihtarksi scored the only goal for CSKA in their record-breaking 7–1 loss against Levski. During that year's UEFA Cup he added two to help the hosts defeat Juventus FC 3–2, but he was subsequently found to have been ineligible for the match and the opposition…

Mihtarski is the most capped player in the history of the Bulgaria U21 team, making 51 appearances and scoring 21 goals. Barred by the likes of Kostadinov, Luboslav Penev, Nasko Sirakov and Hristo Stoitchkov, Mihtarski only earned eight caps for Bulgaria national team in six years (no goals), his debut coming on 28 April 1988 against Denmark. He was part of the team that reached the semi-finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, but his input in the competition consisted of one minute in the penalty shootout win against Mexico in the round-of-16.

Mihtarski was only the second Bulgarian footballer whose surname did not end with a "V" to play in the FIFA World Cup finals. The first was Milko Gaydarski, in 1970.

Pirin

Bulgarian Cup: runner-up 1993–94 Levski Sofia

First Professional Football League (Bulgaria): 2000–01 Bulgarian Cup: 1990–91 Porto

Primeira Liga: 1991–92 Bulgaria

FIFA World Cup: fourth place 1994 Individual

First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) top scorer: 1994–95 (24 goals)