Martin Petrov is a professional football player, who was born on January 15, 1979 in Vratsa, a city in northwestern Bulgaria.
Martin Petrov made his international appearance in 1999, when he came on as a substitute in his country’s qualifying match of the Euro 2000 against England. He played well in all the three games of the Euro 2004 that Bulgaria national football team participated, and he scored the penalty goal against Italy. By netting 2 goals for his national team in the last 2 minutes of the match, Martin Petrov helped the side to equalise the score against Romania on September 2, 2006 in a qualifying game for the Euro 2008. He contributed a goal towards his country’s 3-0 win against Slovenia and another goal for his team against the Netherlands to a 1-1 draw. For his brilliant performances in the qualifying matches of the Euro 2008, which were held in the year 2006, Martin Petrov received the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award (2006). Having earned a reputation for his powerful shots and quickness, this talented midfielder has scored 17 international goals in 70 appearances for the Bulgaria national football team.
Having started his playing career with the Botev Vratsa Football Club (FC) in 1991, Martin Petrov improved his football skills with every match he got to play with the team. During his tenure of nearly six years with the club, he represented the team in 18 matches and scored 4 goals before moving to the popular Central Sport Club of the Army (CSKA) Sofia football club in 1996. Martin Petrov stayed at the CSKA Sofia FC for a short but successful period, in which he scored 3 goals in 19 matches for the team, including two successful matches against the Servette FC in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup. Owing to his outstanding performances with the Bulgarian club, Martin Petrov was offered a contract with the Switzerland club, Servette FC, in 1998. Between 1998 and 2001, he scored 20 goals in 61 appearances for the Garnets.
In the 2001-02 season, he joined the VfL Wolfsburg, a German first division Bundesliga club, and scored 6 goals, assisted 10 goals in 32 matches for the team in his first season. The following season, Martin Petrov made only 2 goals but came back in a better form in the 2003-04 season and scored 8 goals for the German club. By netting four goals against the Mainz 05 football club, he helped his side to win the match on October 29, 2004. His personal goal tally went up to 12 in the 2004-05 season with the VfL Wolfsburg club. Having scored 28 goals in 116 matches with the German club, Martin Petrov moved to the Club Atlético de Madrid, a football club in Spain, for the 2005-06 season.
After playing for two seasons, 2005-07, he scored 3 goals in 49 appearances he made for the Atlético Madrid club. He then joined the Manchester City Football Club of the English Premier League on July 26, 2007. Martin Petrov played his first match for the Blues in August but scored his first goal for the club on September 22, 2007 and went on to net two goals in the match against the Fulham FC. He contributed one goal in the 3-1 Manchester City’s win against the Newcastle United FC and another goal against the Reading FC, which was a 2-1 victory for the Blues. As of the year 2008, Martin Petrov has scored 5 goals in 34 games for the Manchester City FC.
