The
Bulgarian National Team
Thread
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/bg/4/4e/BFU.gif

Presents...

Nickname.................: The Lions(in BG: "лъвовете")

Assoc......................: Bulgarian Football Union

President..................: Borislav Michaylov

Coach.......................: Hristo Stoichkov

Assistent Managers...: Dimitar Dimitrov - Hero, Krassimir Bezinski

Captain.....................: Stilian Petrov

FIFA Code.................: BUL

FIFA Member since...: 1923

UEFA Member since..: 1954

Most Matches............: Borislav Michaylov (102)

Most Goals................: Hristo Bonev (47)


WC and EC appearances...

World Cup Appearances.....................: 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986(second round), 1994(semi final), 1998
EURO Cahmpionship Appearances.......: 1996, 2004


Achievements...

Men Team Titles:
1931 - Olympic Cometee Trophy
1932 - Balkan Championship Winners
1935 - Balkan Championship Winners
1956 - Third Place, Olympic Games Melbourn
1968 - Second Place (Runnners-Up), Olympic Games Mexico City
1994 - World Cup USA'94 fourth place (semi finalists)

Youth Teams Titles:
1959 - European Champions
1969 - European Champions
1974 - European Champions


Records...

Most Games Played:
1.Borislav Michaylov 102
2.Hristo Bonev 96
3.Krasimir Balakov 92
4.Dimitar Penev 90
5.Hristo Stoichkov 83
6.Atanas "Nasko" Sirakov 80
Ayan Sadakov 80
7.Georgi Dimitrov - Jackie 77
Trifon Ivanov 77
Zlatko Yankov 77
8.Ivan Kolev 75
9.Dobromir Zhechev 73
10.Radoslav "Radi" Zdravkov 71

Most Games Coached:
1.Stoyan Ormandzhiev 76
2.Ivan Vutzov 63
3.Dimitar Penev 55
4.Krum Milev 47
Hristo Mladenov 47
5.Dr.Stefan Bozhkov 34

MOST GOALS SCORED:
1.Hristo Bonev 47
2.Hristo Stoichkov 37 [83]
3.Dimitar Berbatov 31 [52]
4.Emil Kostadinov 26 [70]
5.Petar Zhekov 25 [44]
Lumobir Angelov 25 [44]
Ivan Kolev 25 [75]
6.Nasko Sirakov 23 [80]
Nachko Michaylov 23 [44]
7.Dimitar Milanov 20 [39]
8.Georgi Asparuhov 19 [49]
Dinko Dermendzhiev 19 [58]
9.Asen Panchev 17 [41]
10.Todor Diev 16 [55]
Krasimir Balakov 16 [92]


Jerseys...
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/1299/pum40042anc8.jpg

Gaming...:p

Latest Results:
EURO 2008 Qualifier: Romania vs. Bulgaria 2-2 (Farul Stadium, Constanta) - 9/2/2006
EURO 2008 Qualifier: Bulgaria vs. Slovenia 3-0 (Vasil Levski Stadium, Sofia) - 9/6/2006
EURO 2008 Qualifier: Bulgaria vs. Netherlands 1-1 (Vasil Levski Stadium, Sofia) - 10/7/2006
EURO 2008 Qualifier: Luxembourg vs. Bulgaria 0-1 (Josi Bartel Stadium, Luxembourg) - 9/2/2006

Upcoming Matches:
28/03/07 Grp G Bulgaria - Albania
02/06/07 Grp G Belarus - Bulgaria
06/06/07 Grp G Bulgaria - Belarus
08/09/07 Grp G Netherlands - Bulgaria
12/09/07 Grp G Bulgaria - Luxembourg
17/10/07 Grp G Albania - Bulgaria
17/11/07 Grp G Bulgaria - Romania
21/11/07 Grp G Slovenia - Bulgaria


Current Roster...
(extended version)

[i]Goalkeepers:
Dimitar Ivankov Kayserispor
Georgi Petkov Levski Sofia

Defenders
Valentin Iliev CSKA Sofia
Radostin Kishishev Charlton
Aleksandar Tunchev CSKA Sofia
Stanislav Angelov Levski Sofia
Lucio Wagner Levski Sofia
Elin Topuzakov Levski Sofia
Ivaylo Petkov Ankaragücü
Zhivko Zhelev Litex Lovech
Petar Zanev Litex Lovech
Yordan Todorov CSKA

Midfielders:
Martin Petrov Atlético Madrid
Chavdar Yankov Hanover 96
Blagoy Georgiev Red Star
Dimitar Telkiyski Levski Sofia
Georgi Peev Dynamo Kyiv
Zdravko Lazarov Kayseri Erciyesspor
Hristo Yanev Grenoble Foot
Georgi Iliev CSKA Sofia
Marian Hristov Wolfsburg
Hristo Yovov Levski Sofia
Velizar Dimitrov CSKA Sofia
Emil Gargorov Strassbourg
Kaloyan Karadzhinov Lokomotiv Sofia

Forwards:
Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham Hotspur
Valeri Bojinov Juventus
Svetoslav Todorov Wigan
Tsvetan Genkov Lokomotiv Sofia
Dimitar Rangelov Strassbourg
Valeri Domovchiyski Levski Sofia


Key Players...

http://www.bfunion.bg/admin/files/1161245431pic_big_56_7.jpg

http://www.bfunion.bg/admin/files/1161245415pic_big_54_7.jpg

http://www.bfunion.bg/admin/files/1161245400pic_big_52_7.jpg

http://www.bfunion.bg/admin/files/1161245473pic_big_61_7.jpg

The appreciation goes to Rob, who applied the thread, and Hendrik, who advised me to ask Rob. :jap:

So, what would u say bout the opening post?
maybe too much info..
What's missing?
what's not correct besides the fact Stilian refused to play for the team any more... (Which is something i still don't wanna cope with.. That's why i named him as a captain.)

The appreciation goes to Rob, who applied the thread, and Hendrik, who advised me to ask Rob. :jap:

So, what would u say bout the opening post?
maybe too much info..
What's missing?
what's not correct besides the fact Stilian refused to play for the team any more... (Which is something i still don't wanna cope with.. That's why i named him as a captain.)

Exellent thread! TOP! Greetings!

The gold goals of Hristo Stoichkov here:

http://www.kostadinov-football.com/stoitchkov.html

Goal of Martin Petrov against Holland here:

http://www.kostadinov-football.com/mpetrov.html

:ewan:

Let's play Q&A!

Q: Which NT coach has played 60 (!!!!) players, from which 31(!!!!) as newcomers, in his less than 30 games as a coach?
A: The Stupid Stoichkov

Q: Which coach could play 19 year old newcomer boy through whole 90 mins (even in friendly game) ?
A: TSS, again

Q: Which coach starts every game with different 4 defenders, than any other previous game?
A: TSS

=> Q: which coach should get kidnapped on a remote island, so that his nation finally gets rid of him?
A: the same as previous

Nice thread!

Stilian Petrov retiring from international football is a shame.

Nice thread Adobe!

great thread but sadly... our team sucks the big one :hump:

I really don't see how we're gonna be even making 3rd place for the Euro qualifiers if we lose 3-1 to Slovakia and Romania beats Spain 1-0. :kader: Like you said, Stoitchkov needs to go.

And Stilian retired because of Stoitchkov. I'm sure that he will come back once we get a coach change. Stoitchkov always placed him as a DM and he is USELESS there. Just watch our games against Romania and Holland. He was like a shadow the whole time. And you can't argue that he just didn't try because if you watch him in club soccer he's always further up making those key passes to the forward players.

Stoitchkov was an excellent player in his days for the NT and Barca but he also was and still is an arrogant bastard. Why do you think he was benched by Louis van Gaal and earlier by Cruyff when they coached Barca?
Very nice first post Adobe lots of information (Y) but unfortunately you will lose against us when you come to Holland and that's a promise.
It's going to be very hard to qualify for the EC 08 when Stoitchkov remains your coach and Romania is starting to get in gear at the moment but I wish you all the luck. I always said that we will qualify first along side with Romania on 2nd place but who knows with Berbatov as your new captain.

Stoitchkov was an excellent player in his days for the NT and Barca but he also was and still is an arrogant bastard. Why do you think he was benched by Louis van Gaal and earlier by Cruyff when they coached Barca?
Very nice first post Adobe lots of information (Y) but unfortunately you will lose against us when you come to Holland and that's a promise.
It's going to be very hard to qualify for the EC 08 when Stoitchkov remains your coach and Romania is starting to get in gear at the moment but I wish you all the luck. I always said that we will qualify first along side with Romania on 2nd place but who knows with Berbatov as your new captain.

I know, qualifying to euro08 with Stoichkov is something like mission impossible. I mean, COME ON! The fact he has no experience might be brought aside, but when people look @ the crap he's usually doing, they know - we won't end up well with him leading us. :taz:
I barely know some other coach, that starts every damn game with 4 different defenders than in any other previous game he coached!! That's f00kin weird, isn't it?

I know- the game against Netherlands will be more than difficult. I hope you get the points that you need beforehand, so that you bring up the substitutes against us :D

btw, you mentioned Berbatov as the new team captain..
I'm not very happy with his development under Stoichkov.. He hasn't scored since the friendlies with Mexico and Georgia that we won 3-0 and 6-2, which is.. not like him. He hasn't scored a single goal in the current euro campaign..

Berbatov has only been walking around the pitch this whole campaign. And I agree with Silencer, Stoichkov is an idiot...apparently he calls the player drunks and insults them all the time. When the media asked him why they played so weak against Slovakia, he went off cursing at them...He's just pathetic and not educated enough to be on the thinking side of soccer.

And no, I don't see us qualifying for this EURO. We got very very lucky to get 2 draws against Holland and Romania and I just don't think that this luck will continue.

Our main NT players are perforimng well - Berbo scored the goal against his former team Bayer 04 in the game in UEFA Cup, then scored once and gave two passes for the other 2 goals in the game Tottenham - Wigan 3-1.
Stilian P made the penalty for Villa for 1-1 with .. Boro, i guess.
Bozhinov scored twice for Juve against his junior club Lecce for the 4-1 game in Turin.
Martin is doing fine, according to the medicals @ Atletico Madrid.

Do we have another friendly set for next year??

first goal of Bozhinov (http://85.17.42.45/download/juventus_1-1_lecce-wmv.html)
second (http://85.17.42.45/download/juventus_2-1_lecce-wmv.html)

Tottenham-Wiagn 3-1 & Berbatov performance (http://s1.upload.sc/request/79e125e5820fb4273664db4c6cc38173)


yes, we do.
Some kinda tournament. Either one in Cyprus, or again with Mexico & Co.

Berbatov goal VS Boro (live version) (http://www.badongo.com/file/1829822)
Berbatov goal VS Boro (http://www.badongo.com/file/1825792)

only if he could score like that for his national team :boohoo:

BG soccer player of the year 2006 caps:
http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/9522/pc191914cs1.jpg
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/6017/pc191926ta3.jpg
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2126/pc191927vz2.jpg
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/8638/pc191950ny5.jpg
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/7268/pc191957nk2.jpg

Martin was named player of the year, mainly because he saved us in the euro08 campaign so far.
Who do u think deserved it though?

^ Martin was a good choice IMO. Him and Stilian are the 2 best players we have

Good to see pics of Petrov again. A time since I saw him last time.
Did he won "Player of the year in Bulgaria" ?

^ Martin was a good choice IMO. Him and Stilian are the 2 best players we have
yeah, i know you don't like the way Berbo is playing for the NT lately.. :D
But hey - he is still the best goalscorer of the current NT's, although he didn't score a single goal in 2006 for the nt.
Totally agree with ya though, Martin was the best player this year.

Good to see pics of Petrov again. A time since I saw him last time.
Did he won "Player of the year in Bulgaria" ?
Yep, he was named first this year. It's his first time he wins this honour. He mainly did that, because he was the best player in the Romania, Slovenia and Netherlands games.
Berbatov was second, Stan - third, and the bastards from Levski abandoned the ceremony, cos their ceo thought they deserve better. I personally reckon that they don't. :hit:

Shame that Martin is injured now, and Atletico isn't moving higher in the Primera spots...

hey adobe what do you think of Blagoy Georgiev? In the Romania game, he came on and played very very well. I haven't seen him too much other than that but every time I do see him, he impresses. Him on the right and Martin on the left would work very well for the NT but Stoichkov doesn't seem to think so...??

I am a fan of Slavia, and that's why in the beginning i liked Blagoi very vary much. But lately he seems to play like crap too, like the whole team does (except for MArtin). His first games were impressive. His debut in Zagreb, then in Valencia he played well too. Also the firendly with turkey- mainly his crossings made the 2 Berbatov goals.
But in the latest games he doesn't play as well as he can. Same thing with Chavdar, he's like the new Balakov, but he seems to care more about Hannover, and doesn't even move his foot for the nt. :taz: I'd rather play Yanev or Gargorov in the midfield, but Stoichkov seems to have forgotten them, since they left CSKA. Gosh, if i was the NT coach, i'd have changed tones of things until now! :jacko:

i have a question its about the brazilian i believe he is that plays in ur national team. what is the main oppinion about him. is he accpeted or not accepted? thnx for answering :)

Apollon, the brazilian is called Wagner. I think he's a reliable defender, very solid, he can cross and fights well for the ball. we have other left-wing-defenders, but most of them are pretty pretty young, and i think it would be Wagner the one to play the rest of the games in the euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
Maybe you're asking about another brazilian called Tiago Silva, that plays also at the same position - left defender. He played for Bulgaria only one game - the friendly with Turkey, that we won 3-1. But later on, it was revealed, that Tiago cannot play for Bulgaria any more, since he had played already games for the brazilian youth teams, including the team with Ronaldinho that has won numerous youth nt tournaments. So FIFA decided, that Tiago can't play for us.
Wagner plays @ Levski.
Tiago - @ CSKA.

lol who wouldn't change things in the NT...Stoichkov is an idiot. Apparently he calls the players drunks...

And IMO, Wagner is a very good player, one of the better ones on the NT lol... He always tries, like it's his home country. Unlike some of the other players! :mad: He makes good runs up the field to help with the attack and also does a good job defending. Solid player

yeah, totally agree with that.
It would have been great if both Tiago and Wagner were eligible to play. They're both very good and solid players.
Tiago is going to move from CSKA to AS Roma after 6 months, so we won't see from him anything after a while.
Anyway, Wagner remains the good choice for the left back. There are other younger players like Zanev and Venkov (both from Litex; left backs) that are very promissing too, but i guess Wagner has more expеrience and that's why he will be the first choice for the left back position. That holly crap called Ivailo petkov is somebody i won't imagine to see on the left back any more.

Stoichkov called 22 players for the friendlies in February, including Berbatov.
However Berbatov is injured after scoring against Arsenal and never played since, but Stoichkov idiot-like doesn't believe the medics @ Tottenham and calls Berbatov on purpose.
Marian Hristov and Toddy coming back after long injuries.

Here full list of the squad:

GKS:
Ivankov, Petkov
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/9171/ivankovdq7.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4303/go6o5kovad3.png (http://imageshack.us)

DEFS:
Kishishev, Valentin Iliev, Tunchev, Wagner, Topuzakov, Tomasic, Stanislav Angelov, Zanev
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/893/kishho9.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/1912/valdi6.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/614/tunchevma9.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/2297/wagnerkk4.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4485/top4ocl3.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8894/tomasicjf5.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/6489/peletobj0.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4715/zanevtw6.png (http://imageshack.us)

MIDS:
Blagoi Georgiev, Tchavdar Yankov, Georgi Peev, Marian Hristov, Dimitar Telkiyski, Hristo Yovov, Zdravko Lazarov, Yankovic
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1014/blagoqe8.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/269/chavosk9.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4503/peevzv8.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6792/hristovyf3.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8018/me4opt9.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3269/yovovds4.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8800/elektri4kajl8.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6605/yankovicah1.png (http://imageshack.us)

ATTACK:
Berbatov, Bozhinov, Genkov, Svetoslav Todorov
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/9289/berbo4wl6.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/9850/bozhinovfm7.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3448/genkovka4.png (http://imageshack.us)http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2550/todibk7.png (http://imageshack.us)


@thetrooper- the band @ your sig is playin great. i liked the stuff very much.(H) Sounds AWESOME! Just the way i like rock to sound..:bouncy:

oh man...we're done... who's gonna cover that midfield? Hristov and Peev? haha... who are the friendlies against btw?

and thanks about the band :) we'll be doing some pro recordings in february.

:) don't have a clue about the midfield, pal. I guess he will try Hristov/Peev/Telkiyski, but Tchavdar Yankov is definitely one of the center midifelders and on the right will play Blagoi. I guess we couldplay also different scheme, not only 4-4-2. Last game with Netherlands Stoichkov pulles up Kishishev or Angelov as defensive midfielder.. We were playin 4-2-3-1, Bozhinov was on the bench.

But i am really ahppy about the attack- these are the 4 strikers, that i like most. Especially Tsvetan Genkov is a great player!!

I am ot sure who we're playin against, i guess Hungary, Latvia, it's going to be a tournament, or something. Just for 3 days.
I personally reckon, that Berbatov won't play, because it's total nonsence to let him play in stupid games. If he gets injured alongside Martin, than it would be a disaster.


about the band: what are u playing at/ or you're doing the vocals?

hmm.. Didn't Yankovic play on the left against Romania? And Tsvetan Genkov... I remember reading that someone wanted to buy him...what happened with that?

I play drums for the band btw :)

hmm.. Didn't Yankovic play on the left against Romania? And Tsvetan Genkov... I remember reading that someone wanted to buy him...what happened with that?

I play drums for the band btw :)

yep, Yankovic played/was watsed somewhere on the left or in the centre against Romania. Peev was on the right and the badly injured Berbatov was pretending he's playing in the attack.:D
I don't accept really Yankovic. I think he might be useful in case there is a law, that only older players are allowed to play. I guess his one and only advatage is the fact that he has a lot games behind his back.

Genkov was rumoured about all kinda italian clubs, but he stayed in Loko Sofia. I think it's better this way, because Lokomotiv prooved they can play good european football this year. They exited UEFA cup only because of goal difference against Feyenoord, and the 2-2 draw on our soil was because of the ****ty UEFA corrupted referee, that gave a non existent penalty to the dutch oiks straight before halftime, while Loko were leading 2-0 already.

I think it's really comforting being a team like Feyenoord, knowing, that even in case ure weak and dull, the refs would surely give u a penalty and u will come up even u don't deserve it at all.
I'm glad UEFA throw Feyenoord outta UEFA Cup. Even if they hadn't done so, Tottenham would have beaten them very badly.

Genkov is great striker and very young. Him, Bozhinov and Domovchiyski are the attacking future, i guess.(H)


i play drums too , once in a while, but it's a pitty i can't find more time to team up with mates and make up a band like yours... But i'm definitely into the rocksound. :bob:

Cyprus 0-3 Bulgaria
Wednesday, 7 February 2007
Dimitar Berbatov struck twice as Bulgaria defeated hosts Cyprus to win the CFA International Tournament. The Tottenham Hotspur FC forward put Hristo Stoichkov's side in front on the stroke of half-time from the penalty spot, following Marios Elia's handball, and rounded off the night by converting from close range with three miutes remaining. In between, Blagoy Georgiev clocked up the second goal in the 68th minute after the ball came back off the crossbar.
©uefa.com 1998-2007. All rights reserved.
http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=184074http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=184075http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=184076

Cyprus played well. They're improving pretty fast & their latest results are impressive: win over Ireland 5-2 and a 1-1 draw with Deutschland.
We played 4-3-3. with Berbo, Bozhinov and Svetoslav Todorov in the attack.
These were Berbatov's first goals after the third one in the 3-0 win against Mexico played in US in 2005. He has now 33 for the NT and is the third best scorer of all times.
Marian Hristov played his first two games for the NT after the game with Iceland in Reykiavik 1-3 (Berbatov-2, Yanev) in 2005, and is doing very well and solid.

The media said, that Stoichkov came up again against some romanian journalists. I didn't got what he told them anyway. Maybe somebody from the romanian guys can tell, but anyway, it's for sure some of his crap again.

I hope he will improve his coaching skills, it's his first cup in the coaching career right now, although he stated that he stopped to care about cups like these a long time ago.:D

hmm...Did you get to watch the game? How were we with 3 at the front? It's interesting that he hasn't left Berbatov by himself this time...

yep, i did. We were definitely better than previous times. And the defense was solid. Stoichkov was very proud of Hristov's comeback after injury. I didn't like him in the past, but i should admit- Marian is a fighter, has experience and strength and is enjoying himself after being absent for so long.
4-3-3 fits very well, especially if Stan remains rejecting playing under Stoichkov's coaching. :D

edit: Today is a day of A LOT b-days: Stoichkov, Yankovic and Genkov are having birthday today. Congrats to all.

hmm...We'll see how it goes. Maybe we just seemed good because the opponents weren't all that great themselves... sounds pretty promising though. But isn't Hristov a little old?

Yep, he's a little too old, but the only thing important right now is to win against Albania, since both Petrovs will be missing the game, and there aren't so many options in the midfield. Hristov is definely not a long term solution for the problem, you're right.

http://images.ibox.bg/2007/02/21/petrov/460x323.jpg
Martin is recovering from the injury and is expected to return in April.

sounds good! hopefully he'll be able to play for the games after Albania

Berbatov gives Bolton torturous afternoon

By Duncan White
Last Updated: 12:10am GMT 26/02/2007

Match details
Tottenham Hotspur (3) 4 Bolton Wanderers (1) 1

In Bulgaria they have a nickname for Dimitar Berbatov: the devil with the face of an angel.

This was indeed a celestial performance by a player who is blossoming into one of the leading strikers in world football, inspiring his team with his graceful movement and elegant touch after they were reduced to 10 men.

Berbatov's all-round excellence was enhanced by the uncharacteristic ineptitude of Bolton's defending. "We need to use this performance as a kick up the backside so that we don't waste all the hard work of this year," manager Sam Allardyce said.

Abdoulaye Faye had been in doubt for this game after an operation to remove an abscess. He played as if the anaesthetic had not worn off, being embarrassingly shrugged off by Berbatov as the Tottenham striker teed up the first, and again outmuscled by the Bulgarian in the build-up to the second. Keane again surprised Jaaskelainen, this time with an improvised toe-poke, and the rebound was bundled in by Jermaine Jenas. Mercifully, Faye picked up an ankle injury and was replaced.

Inevitably, the visitors cranked up the pressure after the break, Paul Robinson twice denying Nicolas Anelka. However, Tottenham were hitting effectively on the break, largely thanks to Berbatov. He expertly teed up Jenas but Jaaskelainen parried the drive and blocked Steed Malbranque's rebound effort.

Martin Jol handed Dimitar Berbatov the highest praise after the striker's performance in the 4-1 win against Bolton on Sunday.Playing up front on his own for the final 55 minutes, he chased and harried, every high ball appeared to stick and he could have bagged a couple himself - a volley well saved by Jaaskelainen and a header zipped just over.

"We broke on them three or four times and could have scored more goals in the second half and I told Berbatov that it was probably the best performance I've seen from a striker on his own against any team," said Martin.

"It's always a worry (for a foreign player coming into the Premiership) if he can do it in the first couple of months but, especially at White Hart Lane, he was immaculate.

"The thing that pleased me most is that he took responsibility. He wants to do well for us, he knows how much I wanted him as a player and he wants to do well for me and the Club, and that's great.

"Berbatov could play for any team in Europe because he's a top-class player. Just look at his international record - I don't think anyone can better his goalscoring record for Bulgaria."

^ ugh... that last line makes me shiver

^ ugh... that last line makes me shiver
yeah, i think Bozhinov could maybe beat his records and even higher, however he is not scoring that much lately. Berbatov scores a lot, although he doesn't play with the willingness of Bozhinov, and Bozhinov plays with passion, but socres less. Maybe he's just too young.
Bozhinov in Juventus is totally different thing- he plays rarely, but he scores a lot, considering the games he played.

Berbatov keeps transforming grit into high art

The Bulgarian was once sold for a few thousand pounds and 20 pairs of boots. Now he is living up to the £11m Spurs paid. Amy Lawrence reports
Sunday March 11, 2007
The Observer

Not so long ago, Tottenham parted with around £11million to bring one of eastern Europe's most coveted strikers to White Hart Lane. Expectation was predictably high about a schemer with a sweet touch and predatory instinct, a man who oozed skills that accorded with the traditions of teams revered in these parts. Sergei Rebrov, where did it all go wrong?

Luckily for Spurs, where the Ukrainian floundered a few seasons ago, the Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov is flourishing. This afternoon he will line up against Didier Drogba in a fascinating collision of the Premiership's best two attackers on current form. To achieve such status in his debut season in England is quite an accolade for Berbatov.

When he signed from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, there was a warning that his skills might be undermined by a liking for nightclubs and a dislike for training. Klaus Toppmoller, the genial ex-coach of Leverkusen, who had been something of a father figure to Berbatov, said: 'He can be one of the best strikers around, but everyone should be aware he can be a lazy bastard.'

The man himself has recently challenged this theory with some dominant performances in the Premiership and Uefa Cup. His style is more languid than lazy, which, he says, makes the best of his technical assets. He believes players should use their brains more on the field. 'I may not run non-stop,' he says, 'because there is no need to chase unreachable balls.' Or, in a different situation, why scurry when you can hold up the ball and dictate attacking movement without wasting energy?

Berbatov was born in the south-west town of Blagoevgrad, the son of a footballer, Ivan, and an athlete, Margarita. As a boy he was spotted by Bulgaria's greatest coach, Dimitar Penev, who guided the national team to the 1994 World Cup semi-finals. Berbatov had learnt as an impressionable 13-year-old who watched on television when Hristo Stoichkov was in his prime and the big, bald head of Yordan Lechkov knocked out Germany to the joy of the watching world. 'We will never forget it because that was the time that made our generation believe we could do something in football - maybe do the same as them.'

It was not an easy road. Penev took Berbatov to CSKA Sofia in 1997 for a few thousand pounds and 20 pairs of football boots. At first the boy got lost around the city and struggled to come to terms with living in dormitories with the other lads from outside the capital. There was precious little in the way of pocket money during difficult political and economic times. But the experience helped to toughen him up.

Nowadays he is Bulgaria's goodwill ambassador for Unicef and is a campaigner for issues close to his homeland. Berbatov has started to wear an armband with the slogan 'You are not alone', which refers to the cause célèbre of several Bulgarian medics who are imprisoned in Libya. They are accused of deliberately spreading Aids, but Bulgarians continue to protest their innocence.

Berbatov has become the face of Bulgarian football. As well as spearheading the national team, he is the blue-eyed poster boy and features prominently in television's '10 Hottest Bulgarian Men of the Year' award.

Such celebrity seemed an unlikely prospect when he started out at CSKA Sofia. He was made a scapegoat, at the age of 19, for missing some important chances as his team squandered the championship, becoming a boo-boy for the crowd. He won them over, however, as he began to express himself as a player for the big occasion. He joined Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 20 and over six seasons became not just a firm favourite of the Ruhr club, but a player admired as one of the Bundesliga's most creative performers.

'Football is like art,' he says, 'and I am sometimes trying to do a masterpiece. I feel some of my goals this season have been masterpieces.' Spurs fans do not disagree.

And for a luxury talent, he has handled the demands of the Premiership with a decent amount of grit. 'I am not afraid of the physical approach of the game,' he says. 'When I passed the medical tests to join Spurs, the team doctor looked at my Bundesliga games profile and asked me, "Have you really played so much this season?" The truth is that I could play football all day long.'

In a front line that has been chopped and changed regularly under Martin Jol, Berbatov has become a constant. Is he better paired with Jermain Defoe or Robbie Keane? Both have had their runs with the big No 9 and both look better players for working alongside him.

http://tottenhamhotspur.com/images/articles/4419-6.jpg

In last month's 4-1 thrashing of Bolton, Berbatov played most of the game as a lone frontman and delivered arguably his most refined display of the season. So much so that the Spurs manager felt compelled to break with routine to pick out an individual for praise. 'I told Berbatov that was probably the best performance I have seen from a striker on his own against any team,' said Jol.

The accolades keep coming but what Berbatov really wants is something to show for his endeavours, a trophy or title. Tottenham can at least go into today's confrontation with Chelsea in the knowledge that the lengthy hex their London rivals held over them was ended this season. Berbatov is not afraid of Chelsea: 'As we say in Bulgaria, they don't have three legs.'

He has become such a firm crowd favourite, the Tottenham faithful will go to Stamford Bridge knowing, rather than hoping, that Berbatov will be central to their bid to make FA Cup progress.

Well, what more could they expect from a player born in a year that ends in one, the mystical key to Tottenham's Cup success?

===
chelski - Spurs finished 3-3 , Berba scored the first one, his 17-th goal for the season in all tournaments. And he was even injured for 1-2 months, after the Romania/Slovenia qualifyers, so he could have scored more...

THE FUTURE OF BULGARIAN FOOTBALL:



http://www.picsbg.com/uploads/c33e442df9.bmp (http://www.picsbg.com)http://www.picsbg.com/uploads/b6654af73b.bmp (http://www.picsbg.com)

http://www.picsbg.com/uploads/ddaef62d7e.bmp (http://www.picsbg.com)http://www.picsbg.com/uploads/3b7ff1970d.bmp (http://www.picsbg.com)

:bouncy: :bouncy: :bouncy: :bob: :bob: :bob:

Good luck, Hristo!!!!!!!!

Good luck, Hristo!!!!!!!!

You mean Stoichkov, right?

======

I'm happy for Bran. I heard he played very often lately, cos hegot his contract easily finally, since Bulgaria joined the EU.

Vladimir Manchev, if u can recall the guy, plays very welll lately. He left LOSC Lille for Levante, but then got problems with the coach and now i playing in Real Valladolid, who are leading Segunda with 15 points or something, he scored 4 goals for a couple of weeks playing, including two against Deportivo La Coruna in Copa Del Rey. He was at least as disciplined as Berbatov.

Goalcount Berbs: 19.

And this is how our team would look in 6-7 years:
GK:http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=176322
RB:http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=134014 LB:http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=174826

MID: http://images.ibox.bg/2006/10/11/bbel/460x346.jpg http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=139224http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=169560http://levski.bg/Levski/images/players/player34071N-Dimitrov-1.jpg

ATTACK!:http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=173553http://media.abv.bg/img.phtml?id=183434 http://images.ibox.bg/2006/10/14/levski%20-%20belasica/460x362.jpg

Petrov returns to Bulgaria fold
Saturday, 17 March 2007

Aston Villa FC midfielder Stilian Petrov has put his differences with Bulgaria coach Hristo Stoitchkov to one side to help his country's quest to qualify for UEFA EURO 2008™.

Settled differences
Petrov announced he was retiring from international football in October 2006 following Bugaria's UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier against Luxemburg, citing differences with Stoitchkov. But after clearing the air with the coach the former Celtic FC playmaker is ready to fly the flag for his country once again and has been recalled to the squad to face Albania a week on Wednesday.

'Compromise reached'
"I met up with Hristo Stoichkov three weeks ago," the 27-year-old said. "We talked face to face and concluded that the national team is more important that Hristo Stoitchkov and Stilian Petrov. We have reached a compromise. I also have the support of Aston Villa and the club will allow me to join up with the national team for the qualifier against Albania in Sofia." Bulgaria are second in Group 10 with eight points from four games and trail leaders the Netherlands by just two points. Stoitchkov has called up eleven foreign-based players for the Albania game on 28 March and will name his home-based squad players next week.

©uefa.com 1998-2007. All rights reserved.

I'd like to see more people writing in the thread :)
Everybody's welcome to write whatever he wants about bulgarian footbal, nt, players, favourites, hostiry, past games and everything in common. who do admire, what do expect, wish, etc.

! Petrov is back


I heard that Berbatov got hit by a taxi driver while driving his Mercedes in Sofia lol

http://gol.bg/photos/0014/0000014783-article.jpg
:bob:
Looking cool as usual..

haha man poor berbatov...

I just HOPE that he actually tries and plays like he does for tottenham... I'm sick of seeing him walk around for 90 minutes.

Match against Albania tomorrow! We need a solid victory

I didn't watch but from what I read...it sounds like an Israel vs England sort of match...we had the ball and did nothing with it. There go our Euro hopes :)

I happend to watch the second half only, and thank god- otherwise i would have wasted more time on watching this disaster happening. I'll turn down any hopes on this squad, unless some changes are made soon...

I was told that the football union will be meeting in april to discuss whether they will sack Stoichkov? Apparently they had agreed that if easy points are dropped, they'd sack him, and that's what happened against Albania. WE COULD ONLY PRAY!

YESSSSSSS! Finally! Stoichkov stepped down today.
Good luck to Celta Vigo with taking care of him..
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/news/kind=1/newsid=525759.html
http://www.celtavigo.net/index1.htm

MUAHAHAHAHA! Stoitchkov steps down and MANU win 7-1...what an amazing day in the world of football.

MUAHAHAHAHA! Stoitchkov steps down and MANU win 7-1...what an amazing day in the world of football.

YEP, totally agree with you.
I haven't enjoyed a football game that much for a long time now, and even after scoring 4 goals without reply MANU kept on playing hard and chase the perfect win.. Well, at the end, i guess it couldn't have been more perfect than 7-1 :)

About Stoichkov - good luck in Vigo, but the whole messaround is here to stay :( And they will probably put up somebody who is either not prepared to do the job with the excuse that there's no time to search for better one.. Or they will let some previous coach return.. Just remember my words, i know the way those guys are dealing with the coaching problem, and it's not the way it should be...

It's a shame, cos if we don't qualify which is 90% assured, we will have an even harder draw for WC 2010 and we might forget to qualifying for it either.. And all this because this guy came in and ruined the squad after 2004...

^ True... I wish we could bring someone from abroad but us Bulgarians...we're too stuck up to do that.

EPL Team of the season.
Enough said. :)
http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/6617/eplqx6.png (http://imageshack.us)

Berbatov continues his breathtaking form with Spurs. He was named in the Permiership squad of the 2006/2007 season, he then got 2 goals voted as "best goal of the epl week" for each week they were scored in, and now got the Barclays Player of the month award as well. :) Manager of the month is Martin O'Neil from Villa, who is coaching Stenley.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2253/19336ic4.jpg
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2105/19337zc1.jpg

Other news bout the squad:
- Stoichkov kicked out
- Stoilov is going ot replace him on regular basis for 2 games.
- Bozhinov doesn't get played regularly by the stupid Deschamps bastard in Juve, so that's why he turned to be pretty over-weight last time i saw him.. :p
- Martin recovered form the bad injury and played one game as a substitute for Atletico, and hit the bar. Last Atletico game he came as substitute as well and scored the only goal for Atletico, but they lost 1-2 to Espanyol.

:D Belarus 0 - 2 Bulgaria ...hopefully we'll score another

Yes! A nice win, great game, we could have scored more, but that's enough. Good luck for the second game, we must beat them! GO BULGARIA!

БРАВО
БЪЛГАРИ
ЮНАЦИ

:d

Qualifiers are off, we're out of the EURO this time. I hope we can do it like we did it last time, but a lot of things didn't worked out, especially coaching and the players picking.. I guess some players we're called thorughout this campaign only to cap games with the NT shirt and was that.

The positive thing is, we climbed up 16 places (from 34 up to 18; the best climbing into the TOP50 teams) and are in the second pot for the Durban draw for the European qualification campaign for World Cup 2010.

Let's hope for a fine draw. :)

In the meantime we beat at the end of the euro 2008 campaign Romania 1-0 at home (Velizar Dimitrov) and Slovenia 0-2 away (Blagoi Georgiev, Berba).


Some pics form the Romania game:

Penev and Piturca smiling
http://sportal.bg:800/new/uploads/galery/2007_11/bg_rom/IMG_2648.jpg

Throughout the break, Romanian fans fought with each other.. I still don't know why.
http://sportal.bg:8080/new/uploads/galery/2007_11/bg_rom/IMG_2648.jpg

down: Martin, Stilian, Milanov, Velizar, Zanev
up: Berba, Yovov, Tunchev, Tomasic, Blagoi, Ivankov
http://sportal.bg:8080/new/uploads/galery/2007_11/bg_rom/IMG_2689.jpg

down: Nicolita, Cocis, Rat, Ogararu, Mazilu
up: Ovidiu, Goian, Tamas, Daniel NIculae, Chivu, Lobont
http://sportal.bg:8080/new/uploads/galery/2007_11/bg_rom/IMG_2685.jpg

Vili after the goal.. (i always knew he is better than the dozen Levski idiots that kept on being capped through the first games of the campaign)
http://sportal.bg:8080/new/uploads/galery/2007_11/bg_rom/IMG_2729.jpg

.. well, here Martin is looking a little like Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, doesn't he?
http://sportal.bg:8080/new/uploads/galery/2007_11/bg_rom/IMG_2745.jpg

http://sportal.bg:8080/new/uploads/galery/2007_11/bg_rom/IMG_2759.jpg
http://sportal.bg:8080/new/uploads/galery/2007_11/bg_rom/IMG_2711.jpg
http://sportal.bg:8080/new/uploads/galery/2007_11/bg_rom/IMG_2779.jpg

wish Romania all luck in Euro2008. Netherlands too, although they didn't really deserved their place. If you think of Scotland being out after plaing so brave.. it's a shame they didn't made it, and Netherlands did with such a weak performance.

Our World Cup qualification group looks like this:

1. Italy
2. Bulgaria
3. Ireland
4. Cyprus
5. Georgia
6. Montenegro

How would you guys comment on that, what chances do we have for the first two places in your oppinion? :)

It's a second hardest group for me and I don't see any favourite.

I donno man..Ireland is one tough team. It'll be a heck of a fight for second place...

yep, but i do believe we can make it.
Last qualifying campaign Ireland performed very weak. For example, against Cyprus they got 2-5 loss and 1-1 draw...

Not that our campaign was way better, but after all we finished with 25 points. And failed to qualify, because Holland got backed up by the referees in some games, like the one with Albania, in which i saw for the first time an own goal disallowed for offside. :D

^ LOL yeah that game was a bunch of bs. However, we ourselves failed to beat Albania on both occasions. Had we won those 2 games, we'd be in the Euro right now.

I'd rather forget this shibby campaign. It was so uninteresting, the games -not only ours', but our opponent's too- were very sloppy and not really entertaining.

Goals and other video stuff (http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=893c8b8ed3bc63e14012e8015643d9c830d84ea9 12e2c8e7) of the chosen one.

k well...we hardly got a point from Montenegro. I didn't watch it but apparently we were second best throughout...fan*******tastic.