Martin Petrov

Petrov began his career for Botev Vratsa. After a few good seasons, he signed with CSKA Sofia and after two successful games against Servette in the UEFA Cup, the Swiss side bought the 19-year-old for 1.2 million German marks.

VfL Wolfsburg

In 2001 Petrov moved to VfL Wolfsburg, where he established himself as an explosive player. He made his competitive debut on 14 July 2001 in a 4–3 home win over Dinamo Minsk in the Intertoto Cup, scoring a goal and laying on an assist. Petrov made his league debut for Wolfsburg on the opening day of the 2001–02 Bundesliga season, in a 2–1 away loss against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 28 July. In his first season at Wolfsburg, Petrov earned 32 appearances in the Bundesliga, scored 6 goals and provided 11 assists. On 30 October 2004, Petrov scored all four goals in Wolfsburg's 4–3 win over Mainz 05. He made 30 appearances during the 2004–05 season finishing as the club's top scorer with 12 goals. He also made 14 assists.

Atlético Madrid

In summer 2005, Petrov was bought by Atlético Madrid for a fee of €10 million. On 14 October 2006, Petrov suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a game against Recreativo de Huelva and was sidelined for more than six months. He made his comeback for Atlético from a serious knee injury on 28 April 2007, playing for 56 minutes in a 0–0 draw against Real Betis. On 6 May, Petrov netted Atlético's only goal in their 2–1 defeat at Espanyol. On 24 July 2007, after constant press…

In June 1999, he received his first call-up to the Bulgarian national team for a Euro 2000 qualifier against England. He came as a substitute to play alongside his idol Hristo Stoichkov. However, it proved to be an inauspicious start to his international career; he was sent off for a second yellow card just eight minutes after coming on as a substitute. Petrov cried while he was leaving the pitch. Petrov was the key player in Bulgaria's unsuccessful Euro 2004 participation, excelling in all three games and scoring Bulgaria's only goal at the finals; a penalty against Italy in Bulgaria's 1–2 loss. On 2 September 2006, Petrov played a crucial role in the Bulgarian national team's Euro 2008 opening qualifying game against Romania in Constanţa, nailing two goals in two minutes to equalize from 2–0 in the last minutes of the game. This was seen as a remarkable comeback. He also went on to score against Slovenia (in a 3–0 win) and the Netherlands (in a 1–1 draw). His performances in the 2006 qualifying campaign earned him the 2006 Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award. On 7 September 2010, Petrov earned his 80th cap for Bulgaria in the 0–1 home loss in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro.

Club

As of 18 May 2014

International

International goals

CSKA Sofia

Bulgarian A Group: 1996–97 Bulgarian Cup: 1996–97 Servette

Swiss Super League: 1998–99 Swiss Cup: 2000–01 Atlético Madrid

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2007 Individual

Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 2006