Northern Ireland v Bulgaria

Words Liam Blackburn

BULGARIA THE COACH Yasen Petrov is the new man on the scene for Bulgaria after being appointed as the country’s coach in January.

He won three caps for the national team and was a two-time Bulgarian Cup winner with Levski Sofia and Lokomotiv Sofia. Petrov’s coaching career began with Lokomotiv Sofia in 2002 and he had four other managerial jobs before being hired by Levski Sofia in 2010. He led Levski Sofia into the group stages of the 2010-11 Europa League – the last time they reached that stage of any European competition. After his spell with Levski, Petrov returned to China and spent several years coaching clubs there. » Petrov was the first foreign coach to be appointed by Shijiazhuang Yongchang and had two spells in charge of the club. » In his first year they won promotion to the Chinese Super League, where Petrov pitted his wits against coaches such as Sven Goran Eriksson, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Manuel Pellegrini, and he coached Iceland great Eidur Gudjohnsen. » Petrov was in charge of Levski when they

The 52-year-old was chosen ahead of Georgi Donkov and Georgi Dermendzhiev – the man who had previously been in charge of Bulgaria – to be the national team boss, starting with 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland, Italy and Northern Ireland this month. “I am Bulgarian and I love my country,” Petrov said shortly after being handed the job. “I like Bulgarian footballers and I want to see the growth of Bulgarian footballers. I will be able to motivate, in the best way, our footballers who get into the national team. “Footballers should not worry; they should be very motivated. It’s a great responsibility to bear this shirt, it’s not just a job.” Petrov signed a one-year deal, with the option of another 12 months on top of that, having most recently coached in China. He became the seventh successive Bulgarian to be appointed as the national team’s coach since Germany legend Lothar Matthaus’ surprising stint at the helm of Bulgaria between 2010 and 2011. “I hope we can make the people who live in this country happy in some way,” Petrov added of his role. “The players have to have self-confidence, to show a mentality. We will try to create a mood, to have discipline.” A former attacking midfielder, Petrov had a long playing career with clubs in Bulgaria, China, Cyprus and Germany.

beat League of Ireland side Dundalk en route to the group stage of the 2010-11 Europa League. Though they finished bottom of that group, they were unbeaten in Sofia, beating Gent and Sporting CP (Lisbon), and drawing with Lille in their three home matches.

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