Bulgaria’s football legend Trifon Ivanov passed away unexpectedly on February 13. Ivanov left this world at the age of 50 after he suffered a massive heart attack. The death of the great footballer shocked Bulgaria and the entire world football community, too. Many world media informed about his decease, but the media in Spain and Austria paid biggest attention to the sad news and described Trifon as a true legend of the local football clubs Rapid Vienna and Real Betis (Seville).

Who was in fact Trifon Ivanov? His colleagues at the football pitch and many football experts contend that Trifon Ivanov, also known as Tunyo, places among the all-time best Bulgarian and European central defenders. Trifon was born on July 27, 1965 in the village of Gorna Lipnitsa, Veliko Tarnovo district. He made his first steps in professional football in the team of Etar (Veliko Tarnovo) when he was eighteen years-old. After several successful football seasons in that team, Trifon joined Bulgaria’s most-successful football club CSKA Sofia and quickly became an idol of the red fans. There, Trifon Ivanov was part of perhaps the greatest CSKA team ever and played alongside other celebrated Bulgarian footballers such as Hristo Stoichkov, Emil Kostadinov, Luboslav Penev, etc. In 1989 Ivanov reached with CSKA the semifinals of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup (European Cup).

After the fall of the communist regime in Bulgaria, Trifon Ivanov, together with other Bulgarian footballers, joined football teams in Western Europe. Trifon Ivanov was transferred to the Spanish Real Betis (Sevilla), where he quickly became the main figure of the team and received the captain’s armband. Later, Ivanov played in the Austrian teams Rapid, Austria, Favoritner and Avanti, as well as in the Swiss Xamax. Trifon was a three-time champion of Bulgaria with CSKA Sofia and once he won the title with Etar FC (Veliko Tarnovo). In 1996, he became a champion of Austria with Rapid Vienna and played at the final match of the Cup’s Winner Cup against the French PSG. At the end of the same year Trifon was voted Bulgaria’s best footballer of 1996. Trifon’s great sports career could have been even more brilliant but in 1993 the former president of Betis (Sevilla) refused to let Ivanov join Barcelona. Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff who was coaching Barcelona at that time wanted to sign with Ivanov and fill the gap in the team’s central defense, because of the multiple injuries of another legendary defender Ronald Kuman. Unfortunately, Trifon’s transfer to Barcelona failed.

The Iron Defender was a constant part of the Golden Bulgarian Football Generation of the 1990’s. He played 77 matches for Bulgaria’s national football team and scored 6 goals. During the memorable American summer in 1994, when Bulgaria reached its peak in its entire football history and won the bronze medals at the FIFA World Cup Finals, Trifon was the main figure of Bulgaria’s defense and counteracted successfully to the attacks of great world strikers such as Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Jurgen Klinsmann and Rudi Voeller (Germany). His selfless side-splits during the quarterfinal match against Germany neutralized completely the legendary German duo Klinsmann–Voeller and contributed a lot to Bulgaria’s advance to the semifinals. As a result, the national football team placed among the four best teams of the planet. Trifon’s fearful appearance and his courageous performance on the football pitch were at the bottom of his wonderful football career.

In 1994, Trifon Ivanov scored his greatest goal ever in the European qualifier against Wales in Cardiff when he secured the victory of the Bulgarian national team with an incredible volley from a thirty-meter distance to the goal. However, Trifon scored his most-important goal during the World Cup qualifier against Russia at Vassil Levski national stadium in Sofia on September 10, 1997. Thus, the Bulgarian national team qualified for the 1998 World Cup finals in France, which was in fact the country’s last performance at World Cup finals until now.

Trifon’s friends describe him as a very cheerful and warm-hearted man with a great sense of humor. After Trifon ended his active football career, he rarely focused the public attention on himself, unlike most of his colleagues of the Golden Football Generation who became part of the new leadership of the Bulgarian football. In recent years, Trifon Ivanov served as chairman of the Zonal Council of the Bulgarian Football Union in Veliko Tarnovo where he devoted himself to the development of that sport at a regional level.

People will bid farewell to the legendary footballer Trifon Ivanov on February 17 at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Veliko Tarnovo.

Rest in Peace, Trifon!