Dani Kiki

Dani Ayman Kiki (Bulgarian: Дани Айман Кики; born 8 January 1988) is a retired Bulgarian professional footballer, who played as a midfielder. He is of Syrian Kurdish descent,^[1] as his father is from Syria.^[2][3]

Dani Kiki

Personal information
Full name	Dani Ayman Kiki
Date of birth	(1988-01-08) 8 January 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder / Winger
Youth career
1995–2003	Botev 2002
2003–2006	Spartak Plovdiv
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2011	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	84	(7)
2011	Chernomorets Burgas	2	(0)
2012	Rakovski	4	(1)
2013	Lokomotiv Sofia	2	(0)
2013–2017	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	113	(16)
2018–2020	Cherno More	48	(6)
2021	Levski Krumovgrad
Total		253	(30)
International career
2007–2009	Bulgaria U21	5	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 December 2020

Career

Early career

Kiki started to play football in the private junior football academy Botev 2002 in Plovdiv. His first coach was Marin Bakalov. In 2004, at the age of 16, he went to Spartak Plovdiv.

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

In 2006, only 18 years old, Dani Kiki signed his first professional contract with Lokomotiv Plovdiv.

Kiki made his official debut in the Bulgarian first division in a match against Lokomotiv Sofia on 17 September 2006 as a 77th-minute substitute and played for 13 minutes. The result of the match was a 0:2 loss for The Smurfs.

Six days later, Kiki scored his first goal for Lokomotiv Plovdiv against PFC Chernomorets Burgas Sofia. He netted a goal in the 90th minute. The result of the match was a 6:0 win for Loko.

On 31 October 2009, he was involved in a brawl, along with several other players, following his team's 0-1 loss to Botev Plovdiv.^[4]

Chernomorets Burgas

After a five-year spell at Lauta and some problems with the club, Kiki was released from Lokomotiv Plovdiv. He relocated to Burgas, to sign a contract with Chernomorets Burgas. He was released in January 2012.

Return to Lokomotiv Plovdiv

On 29 October 2016 he scored the winning goal for Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the game against CSKA Sofia.^[5]

Cherno More Varna

On 16 January 2018 Kiki joined Cherno More Varna after he had left Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the end of 2017.^[6]

Krumovgrad

In July 2021, Kiki joined Levski Krumovgrad.^[7]

Career statistics

As of 1 July 2019^[8]

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Other[a]		Total
Club	League	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	A Group	2006–07	17	2	4	2	–		–		21	4
		2007–08	24	0	2	0	–		–		26	0
		2008–09	10	3	0	0	–		–		10	3
		2009–10	19	2	0	0	–		–		19	2
		2010–11	14	0	1	0	–		–		15	0
Chernomorets Burgas		2011–12	2	0	0	0	–		–		2	0
Rakovski	V AFG	2011–12	4	1	0	0	–		–		4	1
Lokomotiv Sofia	A Group	2012–13	2	0	0	0	–		–		2	0
Lokomotiv Plovdiv		2013–14	22	2	4	0	–		–		26	2
		2014–15	24	3	4	0	–		–		27	3
		2015–16	21	3	2	0	–		–		23	3
	First League	2016–17	33	6	2	0	–		–		35	6
		2017–18	13	2	1	0	–		–		14	2
Cherno More			9	1	0	0	–		–		9	1
		2018–19	22	4	1	0	–		–		23	4
		2019–20	0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
Career total			236	29	21	2	0	0	0	0	257	31

1. Includes Bulgarian Supercup matches.

International career

In November 2007 of that time the Bulgarian national under-21 coach Aleksandar Stankov called Kiki up for Bulgaria national under-21 football team for a matches with England U21 and Ireland U21. On 16 November 2007, on stadium:mk in Milton Keynes he made his official debut for Bulgaria U21 against England U21. For Bulgaria U21, Kiki was capped five times.

References

1. "Сириец, кюрд, българин или просто Кики". topsport.bg (in Bulgarian). 15 November 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
2. "ЦСКА спазари трима от Локо Пд, Кики се дърпа". Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
3. Треньорът на "Локо" (Пд) дава оставка
4. Морини короняса Ботев - "канарчетата" спечелиха битката за Пловдив (видео)
5. ЦСКА - Локомотив Пд 0:1 /репортаж/
6. "Черно море се похвали с още две нови попълнения" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 16 January 2018.
7. "Дани Кики вече е играч на Левски (Крумовград)" (in Bulgarian). plovdiv24.bg. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
8. "Dani Kiki". Soccerway.com. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.

External links

• Profile at lportala.net
• Dani Kiki at Soccerway