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Mitko scores the second one against Croatia.
Bulgaria had a great start in the qualification campaign. A 2:0 away win at Belgium in the
first game was followed by a win with the same score against Croatia at home. After that Andorra came in
Sofia and lost almost with the same score. The first game in 2003, however, brought a 0:0 draw with Estonia, in Talinn on a frozen, grassless pitch. |
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| 1 | BULGARIA | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 17 |
| 2 | CROATIA | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 13 |
| 3 | Belgium | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 13 |
| 4 | Estonia | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | Andorra | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 18 | -17 | 0 |
| 07 Sep 2002 | Croatia | 0 | - | 0 | Estonia |
| 07 Sep 2002 | Belgium | 0 | - | 2 | Bulgaria |
| 12 Oct 2002 | Andorra | 0 | - | 1 | Belgium |
| 12 Oct 2002 | Bulgaria | 2 | - | 0 | Croatia |
| 16 Oct 2002 | Estonia | 0 | - | 1 | Belgium |
| 16 Oct 2002 | Bulgaria | 2 | - | 1 | Andorra |
| 29 Mar 2003 | Croatia | 4 | - | 0 | Belgium |
| 02 Apr 2003 | Estonia | 0 | - | 0 | Bulgaria |
| 02 Apr 2003 | Croatia | 2 | - | 0 | Andorra |
| 30 Apr 2003 | Andorra | 0 | - | 2 | Estonia |
| 07 Jun 2003 | Bulgaria | 2 | - | 2 | Belgium |
| 07 Jun 2003 | Estonia | 2 | - | 0 | Andorra |
| 11 Jun 2003 | Estonia | 0 | - | 1 | Croatia |
| 11 Jun 2003 | Belgium | 3 | - | 0 | Andorra |
| 06 Sep 2003 | Bulgaria | 2 | - | 0 | Estonia |
| 06 Sep 2003 | Andorra | 0 | - | 3 | Croatia |
| 10 Sep 2003 | Belgium | 2 | - | 1 | Croatia |
| 10 Sep 2003 | Andorra | 0 | - | 3 | Bulgaria |
| 11 Oct 2003 | Croatia | - | Bulgaria | ||
| 11 Oct 2003 | Belgium | - | Estonia | ||
The team is out of the recession that came after 0:2 vs. Denmark, 0:6 vs. Chech Rep.,
0:3 vs. Ecuador and 0:1 vs. Mexico, in 4 consecutive games in 2000-2002. There has been a new coach, Plamen
Markov, who took the position after the Prague fiasco, and under him, the new generation of players
has started to come together and show the type of football characteristic of Bulgaria in the mid 1990s.
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Background
Bulgarian soccer was at its finest in the period of 1992-1996. Noone would come to realize it, however, if it wasn't for this historic moment on November 17, 1993 in Parc de Prince, Paris, France. The time is 44 minutes and 59 seconds in the second half, when Emil Kostadinov scores an incredible goal for a 2:1 win over France and a ticket to USA 1994. |
What followed that November night many of you know. USA 1994 proved to be the stage where the world would realize that there was a small country in Europe, named Bulgaria, that produced the 4-th best soccer team in the world. It took beating of a former (Argentina) and the current World Champion (Germany) to prove it. |
Riding on the wave of glory Bulgaria was unstoppable until they reached their heyday in the summer of 1995 with another win over Germany, 3:2 in Sofia. From that game onward, however, the team started to show worse and worse performances. The level of play fell under any standards of good soccer, and internationally Bulgaria was back at its reputation of an easy opponent before the 1990s. Euro 2004 qualifications are in progress, where Bulgaria's new generation of players will have to do its best to bring Bulgarian soccer back into the world stage. |
The Bulgarian attack is led by Dimitar Berbatov, sold from CSKA Sofia to Bayer Leverkusen in 2000. At only 21, he was a major reason for his new team's incredible 2001-2002 season. Leverkusen played one of the best soccer in Europe, but inexperience costed them 3 trophies in the last deciding games. They finished second in the Bundeslinga, German Cup and UEFA Champion's League. |
The best football site (unfortunately no longer in business), onefootball.com, posted this article, under this banner, on their front page before the second leg of the Leverkusen - Man. United game in May 2002. (Champion's League semifinals) |
