Mpejkrm's World Cup Challenge
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Friendlies Recap
We have improved to 63rd in the latest World Rankings. If we keep winning, we will keep moving up, pretty simple. Other than that, no major team news to report.
Results
v Chile
View attachment 403222
We have improved to 63rd in the latest World Rankings. If we keep winning, we will keep moving up, pretty simple. Other than that, no major team news to report.
Results
v Chile
View attachment 403222
Good win over a very tough Chile side that has one of the top players in the world in Arturo Vidal. We were able to neutralize his play-making efforts and win in the final third to secure victory. Micanski continued his incredible run of form, netting two more goals and assisting a third.
v Liechtenstein
Unfortunately before this match our starting keeper Nikolay Mihaylov who has performed very well for us suffered a facial injury, however due to the quality of opponent I was not too worried and plugged capable backup Vladislav Stoyanov in. We also had two more minor injuries to Ivelin Popov and Svetoslav Dyakov, but as outfield players we had suitable replacements available.
Another good result. Went with the alternative 4-1-2-2-1 control tactic and it worked well, admittedly this is a very weak Liechtenstein squad that we probably should not have even conceded too but we scored and played well overall. There are reasons to be happy about this performance. Micanski won't stop scoring with two more goals, now he is at 13 goals in 13 caps.
So the next international period will be the UEFA European Championship 2016 qualifiers (however I expect some friendlies to be played before then). While the European Championship is not our main goal, it would be nice to qualify and make a deep run as it would give the players some battle tested experience for the next World Cup qualification campaign.
January Transfer Window
Not a lot of transfer news from the first team but some moves from around the lower squads. 17 year old intriguing centre back prospect Stefan Velkov moved to Girondins Bordeaux for 2.6 million pounds ($4.3 million USD).
Euro 2016 Qualifiers Draw
And Bulgaria has been drawn into ...
Group H. Containing, Denmark, Georgia, Ireland, and Italy.
Oh boy! Drawn with Italy and Denmark again, two teams we struggled against the World Cup Qualifiers. This should be fun. Ireland is not an easy task either - they are a very talented squad. Not to mention Georgia is no pushover either. This is a tough group. Group matches begin 9 September. We'll face Denmark at home, visit Italy, and face Georgia at home to finish 2014. Our 2015 schedule looks as so:
- 27/3/15: Ireland (A)
- 12/6/15: Denmark (A)
- 4/9/15: Italy (H)
- 8/9/15: Georgia (A)
- 9/10/15: Ireland (H)
Group A
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Belgium should not have any trouble in this group. Romania is likely to be their only challenger. They shouldn't have too much of an issue.
Group B
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Croatia and Czech Republic look to be the clear favorites in this group. Don't count out Hungary for a surprise, though, they are a good side.
Group C
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Fierce rivals Russia and Ukraine will battle it out for this group. Slovakia could also surprise some as they have a good squad.
Group D
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Germany and Greece are the favorites in this group, but watch out for Finland and maybe even Israel as potential challengers.
Group E
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Switzerland should take care of this group with ease. Turkey and Norway are solid sides but they aren't able to compete for the group title.
Group F
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Portugal and Bosnia are the favorites here. Wales and Northern Ireland are decent sides that might have a chance to surprise.
Group G
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Spain should have little trouble with this group. Austria, Sweden, and Slovenia are good sides but none will seriously compete with Spain.
Group I
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Shouldn't be too difficult of a group for Netherlands to come out on top of, although Serbia and Macedonia aren't bad sides.
Group J
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England got a good draw here. Scotland and Poland are good sides but England should have enough firepower to pull away.
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Friendlies Recap
We are now up to 60th in the World Rankings, so hopefully we keep on winning and keep on moving up spots.
Good work by the squad to come back following the two early goals but definitely should have picked up the victory in this game. We had more shots and possession but failed to convert.
First heavy defeat for me as manager of Bulgaria. We had 13 shots on target but also fouled too much and didn't do a good job on possession. Ecuador was able to equalize on a lot of easy chances and one of our goals was quite lucky. Not a good showing here.
Our next game before the Euro Qualifiers start is a home friendly against Norway on 5/9/14. Four days later we will begin our Euro Qualifiers campaign by welcoming Denmark to Vasil Leveski.
Italy defeat Uruguay in a thrilling final in extra time, with Alessandro Matri striking in the 113th minute! It's Italy's fifth of all time, tying Brazil for the most wins ever. It's also their first since 2006 in Germany. Surprise of the tournament was probably Bosnia & Herzegovina reaching the quarterfinal by beating the Netherlands in the first knockout round.
Tournament Awards
adidas? Golden Ball: Daniel Sturridge, England (5 apps, 5 goals, 1 assist)
Yashin Award (Best Goalkeeper): Gianluigi Buffon, Italy (6 apps, 3 conceded, 3 clean sheets)
adidas? Golden Shoe: Fernando Llorente, Spain (5 apps, 6 goals, 1 assist)
Best Young Player: Marco Verratti, Italy (4 apps, 2 goals)
Summer 2014 Transfer Window Wrap-Up
Bulgaria Transfers
- GK Georgia Kitanov from Cherno more to Dortmund for $4.1M. Loaned back to Cherno more for the season
- Young LB Miki Orachev bought by Real Madrid for $4.8M from Levski. Loaned to Inter Milan.
- DM Ivaylo Chochev bought by Metalist for $1.6M from CSKA (Sofia)
- AM Todor Nedelev sold to HSV from Mainz for $16.5M
- DC Alexandre Barthe sold to Rubin from Ludogrets for $1.7M
- AM Spas Delev moves from Las Palmas to Real Betis for $500K
- DC Georgi Terziev moves from Ludogrets to Gladbach for $2M
World Transfers
- CM Alessandro Florenzi sold to PSG from Roma for $48M
- DM John Obi Mikel sold to PSG from Chelsea for $48M
- Man City buys a trio of players, AM Lorenzo Insigne from Napoli for $33M, AM Hatem Ben Arfa from Newcastle for $32M, and CM Koke from Atletico for $31M
- ST Mario Mandzukic moves from Bayern Munich to Chelsea for $27M
- Young defender Doria moves from Botafago to PSG for $24.5M
- AM Alexis Sanchez sold to Chelsea from Barcelona for $49M
- ST Wilfried Bony sold to Arsenal from Swansea for $40M
- ST Romelu Lukaku sold to Real Madrid from Chelsea for $39M
- ST Christian Benteke sold to Bayern Munich from Aston Villa for $32M
- DC David Luiz moves to PSG from Chelsea for $33.5M
Matchday: Denmark v Bulgaria
Friendly Recap: v Norway
Bulgaria 2 - 6 Norway
(Nedelev 63', Popov 73') (Pedersen 4', 5', 45', 66', 75', Angell 90+1')
Really poor performance in this one. Didn't even put up any kind of a fight in a pretty embarrassing loss. Bad sign for the team as a whole.Friendly Recap: v Norway
Bulgaria 2 - 6 Norway
(Nedelev 63', Popov 73') (Pedersen 4', 5', 45', 66', 75', Angell 90+1')
Preview
Match odds: Bulgaria 6-4 (Favorite); Draw 2-1, Denmark 13-8
"There's not much difference between these two teams and it could right down to the wire. If I had to pick a winner I think I'd plump for a Denmark victory." - Zhivko Kostov, The Bulgarian Football Review
Basic 4-5-1 attack again here as we normally run. Denmark is a good side so we will need some attacking firepower to beat them.
MAN TO WATCH (DENMARK): AMC Thomas Kahlenberg
MAN TO WATCH (BULGARIA): DR Stanislav Manolev
This game had me in all different states of emotion! The early goal that put us ahead, followed by two quick goals in succession from Denmark out of the half, followed by our near immediate equalizer, then TWO missed clear cut chances within the final ten minutes of the game. We should have won this game, but at least we got something out of it.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Michael Krohn-Dehli, Denmark
NEXT MATCHDAY: 10/10/14 v Italy
Matchday: Bulgaria v Italy
Nikolay Mihaylov, Deyan Valkov, and Svetoslav Dyakov are out for this international period with injury. Petar Zanev is back after missing the Norway and Denmark games. GK Filip Dimitrov was called up due to the Mihaylov injury, other than that, no changes from the last squad.
Preview
"I can't look beyond Italy for this game. They have enough quality to see off the challenge of Bulgaria." - Salvatore Germano, The Italian Football Free Press
Lineups
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View attachment 398374
Tough opponent calls for the 4-5-1 defend.
MAN TO WATCH (ITALY): ST Mattia Destro
MAN TO WATCH (BULGARIA): DR Zhivko Milanov
Away against Italy was the toughest game of our qualification campaign, and we played better than the scoreline showed. We had them in possession, but struggled in shots and chances department.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Mattia Destro, Italy
NEXT MATCHDAY: 14/10/14 v Georgia
NEXT MATCHDAY: 14/10/14 v Georgia
Matchday: Georgia v Bulgaria
Preview
Match odds: Bulgaria 1-2 (Favorite); Draw 13-5; Georgia 9-2Preview
"I believe Bulgaria have enough quality to see off Georgia." - Dragomir Avramov, The Bulgarian Football Free Press
MAN TO WATCH (GEORGIA): AMC Jano
MAN TO WATCH (BULGARIA): DM Ivaylo Chochev
A good result here. We got off to a good start with the two early goals but then the 89th minute equalizer scared me for a second, but then Milanov came in clutch with a goal under 30 seconds later! This was a tough game but we came out with the result we wanted and moved a step closer to qualification.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Gia Kekelidze, Georgia
NEXT MATCHDAY: 14/11/14 v Mexico
Friendlies Round-up
Due to some of the poor performances we've had in the 2014 calendar year, we fell 18 spots in the World Rankings and now sit at 74. Disappointing, but we will need to get our stuff together in order to climb back up.
Friendly Recap: v Mexico
Bulgaria 0 - 4 Mexico
(Jimenez 29', Hernandez 32', 45+1', Perez pen. 44')
We struggled to find shots on target and fouled too much in this one which led to a tough defeat.
Friendly Recap: v Australia
Bulgaria 0 - 0 Australia
(Angelucci sent off 70')
Could have gone better, but at least we didn't drop this one. Way too many fouls on both sides (16 for us, 20 for Australia).
We now have a nice long break until late March '15 when we take on Ireland, although we are currently scheduling friendly matches in between.
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Matchday: Bulgaria v Republic of Ireland
Two changes to the squad pre-match. DC Alexandre Barthe and recent call up CAM Antonio Vutov will both miss with injury. AM Ivan Stoyanov and promising young DC Stefan Velkov were called up, the latter for the first time. Then, just before the game, Stoyanov suffered an injury and 19 year old midfielder Radoslav Tsonev was called up to the squad for the first time.
Preview
While normally I would run the 4-5-1 defend in this situation, Ireland is known to be weak to 4-5-1 attack-like formations according to our scouts.
MAN TO WATCH (BULGARIA): DC Alex Pearce
MAN TO WATCH (REPUBLIC OF IRELAND): AM Georgi Milanov
A horribly infuriating result. We let up two goals early, came back in the second half, and then CONCEDED A **** PENALTY. Seriously. And thanks to Denmark's win, we are now fourth in the table. With one more game played than all of the others. Not looking too good.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Georgi Milanov (Bulgaria)
NEXT MATCHDAY: 31/3/15 v Saudi Arabia (Friendly)
Looks like a near impossible challengewill definitely be following
Just a thought though after winning the world cup with each team why not just stay on with the same manager and a different team?
Well i don't want the save to go super duper long and take long time to load and plus when i start with a new country i want to use some real players.
More updates on the way!
Since we have done quite poorly lately, trying out a new tactic. We'll see how it goes.
Friendly Recap: v Saudi Arabia
Bulgaria 4 - 1 Saudi Arabia
(Chochev 18', 20', Micanski 36', Gamakov 90+2') (Al-Khojali 86')
oh right fair enough i guess great result against saudi arabia btw
Matchday: Bulgaria v Denmark
DC Alexandre Barthe was recalled to the squad after missing the last period with injury. Stefan Velkov, a young defender, was sent down, but will certainly have his chance in the future. Pre-match, two more players were injured. Aging CAM Emil Gargorov, who was not getting much playing time either way, and young midfielder Ivaylo Chochev were both hurt in training. Young AM/ST Kiril Despodov was called up and Velkov was recalled. To add on to the injury problem, goalie Ivan Stoyanov got hurt in training. Plamen Iliev was called up to the squad.
Preview
"There's not much difference between these two teams. Denmark to scrape it 1-0." - Casper Kaalund, The Danish Football Review
Lineups
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Running with the new tactic again.
MAN TO WATCH (BULGARIA): CAM Christian Eriksen
MAN TO WATCH (DENMARK): ST Ilian Micanski
Another poor result. Cannot believe that this happened. We just played awful and our qualification campaign is taking a huge turn for the worst. We have to get on track.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Christian Eriksen (Denmark)
NEXT MATCHDAY: 16/6/15 v Liberia (Friendly)
Friendly Recap: v Liberia
Bulgaria 4 - 0 Liberia
(Nedelev 13', 48', Popov 60', Despodov 71')
Great win! Liberia isn't a great side but still good for us to go out and get a nice win. Despodov had an international debut to remember as the 18 year old netted one in the 71st minute. Our next international period will be in September with matches against Italy and Georgia, but before that, in late July is the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers draw! We will be eagerly awaiting our group in that competition.Bulgaria 4 - 0 Liberia
(Nedelev 13', 48', Popov 60', Despodov 71')
2018 World Cup Qualifiers Group Stage Draw
The day is finally here. Our groups are being drawn for the 2018 World Cup qualifying. Our goal is to win the biggest tournament of them all, so hopefully we can qualify and get a shot. Before the draw, the USA was announced as the host of the 2026 event.
We've been seeded fourth for the draw, just as with the European Championship qualifiers. The first seeds are the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, England, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain. Surprising that the Czech Republic and Bosnia were first seeds over Portugal and France.
Bulgaria has been drawn into ...
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Group 1, with Armenia, Belgium, Croatia, Macedonia (FYROM), and Liechtenstein.
I feel we got a pretty easy group. Belgium and Croatia will be tough but Armenia and Liechtenstein should be easy wins and Macedonia shouldn't be too tough either. Group matches start September 2, 2016.
As for the other groups:
Group 2
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Spain should be the odds-on favorite in this group. None of the other sides really look too strong except maybe Romania.
Group 3
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Italy look like easy favorites in this group. Poland and the Scandinavian nations of Norway and Iceland are good, but not Italy good.
Group 4
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Germany and France will battle it out for the title of Group 4. None of the other nations stand much of a chance.
Group 5
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Portugal and Switzerland look like favorites in Group 5. Austria might also surprise some people.
Group 6
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Greece look to be favorites here, with Ukraine and the Czech Republic tagging along as contenders.
Group 7
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England should be favorites, but they got tough opponents in Hungary, Turkey, and Denmark.
Group 8
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Bosnia got a surprise one-seed in the draw and were rewarded with an easy group. Ireland might be their only challenger.
Group 9
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Netherlands shouldn't have too much of an issue here. Sweden and Wales are solid, but not great sides.
Summer 2015 Transfer Window Wrap-Up
Bulgaria Transfers
- DM Simeon Slavchev, just two years after moving to Atletico, was sold to rival Barcelona for $20.5M (12.2M pounds).
- Right-back Stanislav Manolev was sold to Brighton and Hove Albion for $235K (140K pounds) from Sporting CP, where he had two uneventful seasons.
- Central attacking mid Ivelin Popov made the move from Kuban to Newcastle in the English Premier League on a free transfer following his contract expiration.
- Young goalie Plamen Iliev moved from Levski to Werder Bremen for a fee of $3.3M (1.95M pounds).
- 18 year old promising defensive midfielder Vasil Penkov moved from Ludogrets to FC Porto for $6.5M (3.85M pounds). He had interest from numerous other clubs such as PSG, Arsenal, Real Madrid, etc.
World Transfers
- Liverpool sign defensive mid Lars Bender from Leverkusen for $54M (32.1M pounds).
- Chelsea sign Roma defensive mid Kevin Strootman for the same $54M fee.
- AS Monaco FC sign Athletic Bilbao's young defender Aymeric Laporte for a fee of $47M (27.95M pounds)
- Attacking midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is sold to Man United from Wolfsburg for $41.5M (24.7M pounds)
- Attacking midifleder Jack Wilshere moves from Arsenal to Man City for a fee of $40.5M (24.1M pounds)
- Defender Phil Jones moves from Man United to Arsenal for $32M (19M pounds)
- AS Monaco FC sign two promising attacking midfielder, Raheem Sterling from Liverpool ($44M/26M pounds) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ($32M/19M pounds) from Dortmund