Northern Ireland vs Bulgaria (15/10/2024)

WORDS: IAN PARKER

THE COACH: BULGARIA

Ilian Iliev is not a man who likes to allow himself too many weekends off. When he took the Bulgaria job in November 2023 he stayed on as boss of club side Cherno More. And he continues to juggle both roles, managing the club where he both started and finished his playing career and the country for which he earned 35 caps. But the 56-year-old is making it work. Cherno More sit fifth in the Bulgarian First League standings having lost only two of their opening 11 games of the season, while Iliev is unbeaten in his eight games in charge of the national team. As a youngster he was a talented wrestler but focused on football and came through the ranks with his hometown club in the city of Varna, a seaside resort on the banks of the Black Sea. After three seasons in the first team, Iliev joined Levski Sofia where he was a three-time Bulgarian league winner and two-time Bulgarian Cup winner. The midfielder’s performances caught the eye of clubs abroad, and in 1995 he signed for Portuguese giants Benfica, winning the Portuguese Cup with them in his first season. Iliev made his international debut against Turkey in 1991, the start of an eight-year Bulgaria career which reached its pinnacle at the 1998 World Cup, where he played in all three of his country’s games.

His playing career also included spells with Bursaspor in Turkey, Greek side AEK Athens and Maritimo in Portugal before he returned to Cherno More prior to retirement in 2004. He quickly moved into management, again with his hometown club, before moving to Beroe in 2006 - the first of two spells either side of a stint as assistant with the national team - and won the Bulgarian Cup with the club in 2010. A colourful coaching career has subsequently included jobs in Kazakhstan and Angola, but the call of Cherno More was answered once again in 2017 and he has been with the Sailors since. After Mladen Kerstaich was shown the door as Bulgaria coach in November 2023 following a poor run in Euro 2024 qualifying, Iliev was the pick, signing a contract which runs until the summer of 2026 while agreeing to stay on with Cherno More. Iliev took the job promising to allow the players more freedom to express themselves and results quickly improved, with a side that had taken only two points from six games drawing their final two Euro 2024 qualifiers against Serbia and Hungary. That was the start of a run which saw them win two and draw six of their first eight under Iliev’s management - including the 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in Plovdiv last month.

IRISHFA.COM

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