Born in
Vidin, Borimirov's club career began with local club
Bdin in
second league, where he made his first-team debut in 1987 at age 17. In 1990 Borimirov joined
Levski Sofia. In the beginning, he appeared mainly as a
supporting striker, but eventually reconverted to
attacking midfielder. At Levski, Borimirov was very important – if not crucial – part in all of the club's six major titles during his first spell, three
leagues and three
cups. The biggest victory in the history of
The Eternal Derby of Bulgaria (7–1 for Levski in
1994–95 A Group) is unthinkable without the two goals scored by Daniel Borimirov. After 32 goals combined in his last two years, with three back-to-back national championships, he signed with Germany's
TSV 1860 Munich. Borimirov made his
Bundesliga debut on 12 August 1995, scoring twice at
FC St. Pauli, albeit in a 4–2 loss, adding another two in the next two games, as the
Lions eventually
finished in eighth position; in
the following season, he experienced his best year abroad, netting nine times in 31 matches, helping TSV
qualify for the
UEFA Cup. In the following years, although used more sparingly, Borimirov continued to be an important member for Munich 1860, eventually appearing in nearly 300 official matches in his -year spell. 214 of them were in the Bundesliga. In early January 2004, one week shy of his 34th birthday, he returned to Levski, being the driving force behind the success of the club in the
2005–06 UEFA Cup, helping the
capital outfit to the quarterfinals, namely scoring against
Udinese Calcio and
FC Schalke 04 (the latter in the stage where the club was ousted, 2–4 on aggregate). In an interview on 16 August 2006, Borimirov stated he was attending coaching classes, intending to work in football after retiring as a player. On 1 July of the following year, he played for a
FIFA All-Star team against
China in an exhibition game as part of Hong Kong's ten-year independence anniversary celebrations. The miscellaneous side was coached by
Gérard Houllier, and featured players like
Hidetoshi Nakata,
Stéphane Chapuisat,
Christian Karembeu,
George Weah and
Brian McBride. Borimirov still played an important part in the
2006–07 season, playing in 20 matches (four goals) as Levski won the league – and the cup. He ended his career at the age of 38, playing his last game on 17 May 2008 against city neighbours
PFC Slavia Sofia, with his team winning the match. After retiring, Borimirov served as
director of football at Levski Sofia, replacing former club and national teammate
Nasko Sirakov, and himself being replaced at the end of
2008–09 by
Georgi Ivanov.
Controversy In 2006, still as a player, Borimirov gained notoriety in Bulgarian football circles for his violent outbursts after controversial referee decisions. One particular accident in which he was involved in resulted in him spitting in the face of the
referee. Borimirov was fined 10,000
Bulgarian lev by the
Bulgarian Football Union, later apologizing for his behaviour. Two years later, now in directorial capacities, he caused more controversy, following a match against
PFC CSKA Sofia. ==International career==