All About Sports: Dimitar Berbatov

Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov (born 30 January 1981) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a forward for Manchester United. He captained the Bulgarian national team from 2006 to 2010, and is its all-time leading goalscorer and has also won the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year a record seven times, surpassing the number of wins by Hristo Stoichkov.Born in Blagoevgrad, Berbatov started out with home-town club Pirin before joining CSKA Sofia as a 17-year-old in 1998.

He was signed by Bayer Leverkusen of Germany in January 2001 and played in his first Champions League final 18 months later, coming on as a substitute in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, which Leverkusen lost 2–1 to Real Madrid. After five-and-a-half years with Leverkusen, he joined English club Tottenham Hotspur in July 2006, where he spent two years before moving to Manchester United. He played in his second Champions League final in 2009, during his side's 2–0 defeat against FC Barcelona. Berbatov is the first non-Englishman in Premier League history to have scored five goals in a single match, having done so in Manchester United's 7–1 win over Blackburn Rovers in November 2010.

Berbatov began his youth career with his home-town club, Pirin, where his talent was spotted and he scored 77 goals for their reserve team in 92 appearances. He made nine appearances and scored two goals in their first team.Berbatov joined his father's former club, CSKA Sofia, after being spotted by scout and manager Dimitar Penev in 1998. He made his début during the 1998–99 season, at the age of 18, and won the Bulgarian Cup with CSKA at the end of that season. Berbatov's first game in Europe came in September 1999, in a 2–0 defeat against his childhood team Newcastle United;it was during that season, 1999–2000, that he started to make his name, scoring 14 goals in 27 league matches.At the age of 18, Berbatov was kidnapped following a training session by Bulgarian gangster Georgi Iliev, who unsuccessfully attempted to convince the young forward to sign for his own club, Lokomotiv Plovdiv.Berbatov nearly signed for Italian Serie A side Lecce in June 2000, even passing a medical before the move collapsed at the last minute.A run of nine goals in eleven games during the first half of the 2000–01 season was enough to persuade German club Bayer Leverkusen to pay €1.3 million to sign a four-year contract with Berbatov on 1 January 2001.Berbatov played for the club's reserve team in the Oberliga Nordrhein at first, and scored six goals in seven appearances before being promoted to the first team.He made his team début in a 4–3 pre-season friendly win against D.C. United, scoring a hat-trick. His league début for the first team came on 10 February 2001, replacing Ulf Kirsten in a 4–1 victory against 1. FC Köln.Berbatov found himself being used as a substitute by manager Berti Vogts, making six appearances and scoring no goals as Leverkusen finished fourth and qualified for the following season's UEFA Champions League.Tottenham Hotspur reached an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen for Berbatov's transfer in May 2006;the fee of €16 million (£10.9 million) made him the most expensive Bulgarian footballer ever.After he was granted a British work permit, the transfer was completed on 1 July 2006.

After Tottenham lost 2–0 to Bolton Wanderers in Berbatov's first league match in England on 19 August 2006, he scored his first goal for Spurs three days later in a 2–0 home victory against Sheffield United.[Berbatov moved to Manchester United on 1 September 2008, costing the club £30.75 million and signing a four-year contract. Tottenham had also accepted a bid from Manchester City, but Berbatov claimed after signing for United that he "would not even have thought about Manchester City". Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, meanwhile, accused Tottenham of having used the complaint to the Premier League to negotiate a higher price for Berbatov from Manchester United.[60]Berbatov netted his first goals of the 2011 calendar year with his third hat-trick of the season in a 5–0 home win over Birmingham City on 22 January. This made him the first United player since Ruud van Nistelrooy (in 2002–03) to score three hat-tricks in the same season. In January 2011, Berbatov was named by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics as Europe's most popular footballer among active players for 2010.After being dropped to the bench for games against Arsenal and Marseille, Berbatov returned as a second half substitute for Javier Hernandez against Bolton Wanderers on 19 March and scored the winner in the 88th minute (his 20th goal of the season), giving United a 1–0 victory. He scored his 21st in a following Premier League start against Fulham where United won 2–0. As top scorer of Premier League, Berbatov was a member of the PFA Team of the Year for the 2010–11 season alongside Carlos Tévez. Berbatov also shared the Premier League Golden Boot award with his former Manchester United teammate. On 29 May 2011, there was intense speculation about his future after he was left out of the Manchester United squad for the Champions League Final, in which United lost 3–1 to Barcelona.Berbatov made his début for Bulgaria on 17 November 1999, aged 18, when he came on as a substitute for Aleksandar Aleksandrov in a 1–0 friendly loss against Greece. He scored his first goal for his country on 12 February 2000 in another friendly defeat, 3–2 against Chile, and represented Bulgaria at Euro 2004. This was the only major tournament he played at for his country, owing to the team's failure to qualify for other tournaments. He scored a hat-trick in the 6–2 home win in a 2010 World Cup qualification match against Georgia in October 2009, enabling him to bring his goal tally for the national side to 46 goals, just one short of the then all-time top scorer for Bulgaria, Hristo Bonev;after scoring two goals against Malta during a 4–1 friendly away win during the following month, he took the record.[84] Berbatov captained the team from 2006 until May 2010, when he announced his retirement from international football, leaving his tally for Bulgaria standing at 48 goals from 77 matches.[86Berbatov is known for his footballing intelligence, technical ability and composure; in particular, his unhurried stance in front of goal has been described by The Scotsman's Tom Lappin as "elegant and calm".

He also possesses exceptional precision when passing and shooting, and takes his time when on attack in order to ensure the best move possible. As such, he is often used as a deep-lying centre forward, receiving passes from the midfield, holding the ball up and then using his tactical acumen and well-honed skill to bring his team-mates into the game.

His impressive physical stature combines with these attributes to form a strong all-round attacking player.It is because of these characteristics that was signed by Manchester United, who intended for Berbatov to complement the combative and busy style of their English striker Wayne Rooney. Whereas Rooney is known for exerting himself vigorously for the entirety of a match, Berbatov employs a more laid-back and composed style, and because of this is sometimes criticised by observers who interpret this as laziness.On signing for Manchester United, Berbatov attracted comparisons with former United forward Eric Cantona, not only because of his languid and impeccable touch, but also because of his bravado and perceived arrogance. Berbatov is, however, capable of adapting his style to play more directly when required; in April 2010, for example, with Rooney absent, Berbatov gave a performance against his former side Tottenham which, in James Ducker's words, was as if he had "decided to take it upon himself to impersonate the England striker". Combining uncharacteristic determination and effort with his regular technical skill, he contributed to the first Manchester United goal and helped United to a 3–1 victory.