Bulgarian Football Season 2015/2016

[levski.bg]

The Bulgarian under-17 national team qualified for the Elite round after a draw 0:0 against FYR Macedonia in the last match in Group 12 of the EURO 2016 Qualifying round. The game was played at “Lazur” stadium in Burgas.



In the other match, Italy and Scotland also made a draw 1:1 but it was enough for the Italians to finish in top in Group 12 with 5 points.

Bulgaria and Scotland have 4 points but the goalless result ensured that the Bulgarians will finish in second place because of the win against the Scottish with 2:0 at “Lazur” stadium on Friday 23rd.

Scotland still has a chance to qualify as one of the five best third-placed teams but will have to wait for the final results in all the groups.

The team of Macedonia ends in fourth place with 2 points.

[levski.bg]

Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona will visit Bulgaria next year to participate in the show celebrating the 50th birthday of one of the greatest Bulgarian footballers Hristo Stoichkov.



Stoichkov, who is the only Bulgarian to have been awarded the Ballon d'Or, is preparing a spectacular show for his birthday, the Bulgarian National Television informs.

The show entitled “50 years number 8” (after his jersey number) will take place at the Vasil Levski national stadium in Sofia on 20 May 2016.

The idea of the “Dagger” is to share his birthday not only with all football lovers, but also with the greatest football stars from the recent past and the present.

This will not be a simple friendly match, but an event of an unprecedented scale for Bulgaria.

The best Bulgarian and foreign football players will be split into two teams, depending on whether they prefer to play with their right or left foot.

The names of the guest stars are still kept in secret and they will be announced one by one in the forthcoming weeks.

Stoichkov is the most successful Bulgarian football player and is often the first thing that foreigners associate with Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian was part of the dream team of Barcelona, which won four consecutive La Liga titles and the Champions League in 1992.

He is holder of the European Golden Shoe for the 1989-1990 season and was awarded the 1994 World Cup Golden Shoe.

[og2002gr]

Nice to see Levski returning ..
Are they stronger than Ludogorets this season or it is going to be a fight till the end?

[Todor]

Nice to see Levski returning ..
Are they stronger than Ludogorets this season or it is going to be a fight till the end?

On paper Ludogoretz have a better squad, so its their league to lose. Levski have new owners and are in a much better financial situation than last three seasons, but are still re-building their team.As a whole (my opinion only) whichever team wins the league this year will be the least weak, not the best one.

[totosexpandingheadband]

Levski have their best chance to win for years,they are playing better and the competition is worse.I expect Levski to win the league.Ludogorets in my opinion are slowly but not surely realising that they have to fight to win games now,there is no more slick passing football,that has finished,other teams like Loko Plovdiv this week are putting in the effort,more than Ludogorets are prepared to put in,and unless they start to make a bigger effort,then they will be punished,even bein knocked out of the cup last week by a second tier team.

[levski.bg]

[shnura]

Nice to see Levski returning ..
Are they stronger than Ludogorets this season or it is going to be a fight till the end?

Levski is still as bad as the last 5 years, the thing is the league at the moment is in its worst form ever. Ludogorets is in pathetic shape, CSKA and Lokomotiv Sofia missing, it's just really nothing to see here. One thing is certain - everyone's going to have a really short euro campaign next summer as usual. Ludogorets still has chance at least for EL GS as they still have good coefficient, they just need to stop switching managers every other month for now ..

[levski.bg]

[levski.bg]

Bulgaria Climbs 12 Positions to 66th Place in FIFA World Ranking



The Bulgarian men's national football team climbed 12 positions to 66th place in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, which was released on Thursday.

At present, Bulgaria has 497 points and occupies the place between the teams of Panama and the United Arab Emirates.

The progress in the ranking comes after Bulgaria suffered a 0:3 defeat to Croatia and recorded a 2:0 victory over Azerbaijan in the last two UEFA EURO 2016 qualifiers played in October.

Bulgaria came fourth in the final standing of qualification Group H, finishing eight points behind the third place, which would have allowed the team to proceed to the play-offs.

Belgium climbed to the top of the ranking for the first time in history.

The reigning world champion Germany retained its second position, while the previous leader in the ranking Argentina dropped to third place.

Portugal retained its fourth place, while the reigning Copa America champion Chile climbed four positions to fifth place.

The top ten is completed by the reigning European champion Spain, which retained its sixth position, followed by Colombia, Brazil, England and Austria.

The worst mover in the ranking is the team of Sudan, which dropped 44 positions to 128th place, while Chad is the best mover having climbed 39 positions to occupy the 136th place.

Three teams are at the bottom of the ranking with no points - Anguilla, Bahamas and Djibouti.

[levski.bg]

Two Romanian Football Legends to Join Stoichkov's 50th Birthday Show



Two of the greatest football players in Romanian history - Gheorghe Hagi and Gheorghe Popescu confirmed their participation at the 50th birthday show organised by Bulgarian legend Hristo Stoichkov next year.

Stoichkov played with both Hagi and Popescu during his spell at FC Barcelona.

The two Romanians will join Argentina's Diego Maradona and Colombia's Carlos Valderrama, who were revealed as the first participants in the show last week.

The show entitled "50 years number 8" (after Stoichkov's jersey number) will bring together some of the best Bulgarian and international football players from the recent past and the present.

They will be split into two teams, with one of the teams composed of footballers playing with their left foot and the other made of players relying on their right foot.

The show will take place at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia on 20 May 2016.

The names of the remaining guests will be announced in subsequent weeks.

[levski.bg]

[levski.bg]

Valeri Bojinov with new goal in Serbia in Partizan 3-0 win over FK Novi Pazar

[levski.bg]

Three football players from Bulgaria’s golden generation will join the show celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hristo Stoichkov next year.

The first Bulgarian players to confirm their participation in the show are Nasko Sirakov, Yordan Letchkov and Lyuboslav Penev.

Together with Stoichkov, they were part of one of the most successful football generations in Bulgarian history.

These were the players behind the great achievements of the 1990s, when Bulgaria finished fourth at the 1994 World Cup and qualified for the first time at a European Championship in 1996.

The show entitled “50 years number 8” (after Stoichkov’s jersey number) will take place at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia on 20 May 2016.

The show will bring together Bulgarian and international football stars from the recent past and the present.

The participants will be split into two teams depending on whether they prefer to play with their right foot or rely on their left foot.

With the latest three players to confirm their participation, the number of participants has risen to thirteen.

The first to confirm was Argentinian legend Diego Maradona, followed by Colombia’s Carlos Valderrama, Romanian stars Gheorghe Hagi and Gheorghe Popescu, goalkeepers Jorge Campos (Mexico) and Jose Luis Chilavert (Paraguay), Chilean Ivan Zamorano and Italy’s Daniele Massaro, Gianfranco Zola and Antonio Benarrivo.

The remaining players will be announced in the coming weeks.

[levski.bg]

Reghecampf joins Steaua, Petrovic back at Litex



Laurentiu Reghecamp has returned to Romanian champions Steaua Bucharest as manager on a 2-1/2 year contract having left Bulgarian club Litex Lovech after four months on Thursday.

"I'm happy and I feel good," Reghecampf, who will be presented to the media on Friday, said in a club statement. "Our main task now is to work very hard and talk less."

Litex reacted quickly to appoint their former coach Ljupko Petrovic, the Serb who led Red Star Belgrade to the Champions League title in 1991, as Reghecampf's temporary replacement.

Steaua's owner Gigi Becali had earlier said Reghecampf was set to return to the club as head coach three days after Mirel Radoi stepped down following a poor run.

"I made him an offer he couldn't refuse," Becali told local media.

Reghecampf, who became Litex Lovech's third coach this season when he replaced Serb Petrovic in August, said the four-time Bulgarian champions were good enough to win a domestic double and be successful in Europe.

The 40-year-old previously guided Steaua to the Romanian title in 2013 and 2014 before accepting a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal.

He was axed by Al Hilal in February, however, on the eve of their AFC Champions League campaign following a surprise home loss in the Crown Prince Cup final.

The 1986 European Cup winners Steaua, the most successful Romanian club with 26 league titles and 22 national cups, are fifth in the standings with 31 points from 20 games, nine points behind leaders FC Astra.

Litex, third in the Bulgarian league on 32 points, two behind leaders Ludogorets, have turned once again to 68-year-old Petrovic to help them out.

"We've reached an agreement to lead the team in the remaining three games this year," he said before the club's training session on Thursday.

Petrovic, who took charge of Litex for a second time earlier this season, will start his fourth spell at the club on Saturday when they host Ludogorets.

Litex will also play twice - in the championship and the domestic cup - against title contenders Levski Sofia, who currently lie second.

The much-travelled Petrovic, who has coached more than a dozen clubs in Serbia, Spain, Uruguay, Greece, Austria, China, Croatia, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Rwanda, won the Bulgarian Cup during his first spell at Litex in 2004.

[levski.bg]