Full name Petar Kanchev Hubchev Name Petar Hubchev Role Former football player | Playing position Height 1.85 m Years Team Position Defender | |
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Date of birth (1964-02-26) 26 February 1964 (age 51) Similar People Simeon Djankov, Georgi Ivanov, Mikhail Skobelev, Osman Nuri Pasha, Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria | ||
Petar Kanchev Hubchev (Bulgarian: Петър Кънчев Хубчев) (born 26 February 1964) is a former Bulgarian association football player, who is currently the head coach of the Bulgaria national football team. He was also part of the Bulgarian squad that reached the semi-finals of the 1994 World Cup and also played at the UEFA Euro 1996.
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As a player
Born in the village of Glozhene, Lovech Province, Hubchev initially began his career as a central defender at Osam Lovech (today Litex Lovech) and being called up for the national team while still playing in B PFG. He made his debut for Bulgaria on 25 April 1984, in a match against Greece. Hubchev was subsequently bought by Levski Sofia in 1989 after 249 matches for Osam. He stayed in Sofia until 1994, winning two domestic titles and two national cups. His success during the 1994 World Cup led him to a move to German club Hamburger SV, a team which he captained for a brief period. He then played for Eintracht Frankfurt until 2001, where he finished his professional career at the age of 38 and continued as an assistant manager and reserves manager, having played 128 matches and scored two goals in the German Bundesliga, as well as 44 matches in the 2. Bundesliga with another two goals.
As a manager
In 2002, Hubchev became the assistant manager of the Bulgarian national team under head coach Plamen Markov, as he helped Bulgaria qualify for the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament. He continued afterwards as an assistant manager under new Bulgaria national team manager Hristo Stoichkov, and also briefly worked as a Slavia Sofia manager in 2005. From the summer of 2009 he went on to manage Chernomorets Pomorie, a feeder club of Chernomorets Burgas at the time in the B Group. Hubchev managed the team to a surprise appearance in the 2010 Bulgarian Cup Final by eliminating Minyor Pernik with 2–0 in the quarter-final and Kaliakra Kavarna (4–1 after penalties) respectively. Chernomorets Pomorie's players were the second ones from a B Group side in the Bulgarian Cup history to appear in the final of the competition since Chernomorets Burgas's similar achievement in 1989. Chernomorets Pomorie lost the final 0-1 against Beroe when Doncho Atanasov scored a late goal during the additional time. In 2011, he was appointed as a manager of Botev Plovdiv, but was shortly released after unsatisfying results.
Beroe
In January 2012, he was appointed as a sports director at Beroe Stara Zagora. In October 2012, Hubchev was announced as the new head coach of Beroe. The very same season he guided the team to a Bulgarian Cup triumph against Levski Sofia in the final, combined with a Super Cup brace against domestic title holders Ludogorets Razgrad. In the follow-up 2014-15 A Group he also led Beroe to a historic second place in the final league ranking, mostly by securing crucial wins at home against title contenders Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia, alongside Lokomotiv Sofia and Slavia Sofia. Beroe also avoided losing against these four on the away league matches in Sofia respectively. Hubchev was released from his duties in April 2016, following a 0-2 home loss against CSKA Sofia in a first leg Bulgarian Cup semi-final match, with the management of the club proclaiming him to be the most successful head coach Beroe has had in the club's history.