94: Bulgaria’s Big American Adventure!

Jonathan Wilson — Sun, 30 May 2010 07:55:00 GMT

Humiliating losses, memorable victories, spectacular goals and even a spot of illegal immigration: Bulgaria's route to the World Cup semis was anything but dull...

Bulgaria’s 1994 American adventure might have been bookended by two crushing defeats – 3-0 and 4-0 – but in between, they crafted one of the World Cup’s great stories. Cheered on by neutrals everywhere, this blend of visually amusing journeymen and temperamental geniuses beat a highly fancied Argentina in the group stages, then Germany in a classic quarter-final, courtesy of a memorable diving header by the unmistakable ‘Bald Eagle’, Yordan Letchkov.

They also picked up 22 yellow cards and two reds. But what makes their achievements most staggering is that they really shouldn’t have been at the tournament at all.

With two games of qualifying remaining, Bulgaria trailed France by three points (this in the days of with two points for a win). But then Bulgaria hammered Austria 4-1 and France, shockingly, lost 3-2 at home to Israel. The Lions suddenly had a fighting chance. To finish above France, though, they needed to beat them away, something they had failed to do in nine previous attempts.

But that’s not all. As the squad gathered in Germany for a training camp, it became apparent that strikers Luboslav Penev and Emil Kostadinov didn’t have visas. Given that these took a minimum 10 days to process, two of Bulgaria’s chief threats seemed destined to miss out.

But then midfielder Georgi Georgiev and wig-wearing goalkeeper/captain Borislav Mikhailov, who both played for Mulhouse in eastern France, suggested a border-post they knew where security was lax. So the front two stayed at Georgiev’s house before sneaking across the border and on to Paris.

The squad stayed at the Trianon Palace in Versailles, a hotel of such opulence that the president of the French Football Federation, Jean Fournet-Fayard, was moved to ask publicly how they could afford it. The Bulgarians remained tight-lipped, but it later emerged that a French travel agency, angered by losing a deal with the French Federation, retaliated by providing the accommodation at a third of the usual cost.

France seemed to have little to fear, though, and Eric Cantona’s languid finish on 32 minutes suggested victory was a formality. Kostadinov levelled with a near-post header from a corner five minutes later, but with the clock showing 16 seconds plus injury time remaining at the end of the game, and the ball with David Ginola by the corner-flag at the Bulgaria end, Les Bleus seemed safe.

But then Ginola committed the act for which France’s manager Gerard Houllier has never forgiven him: rather than wasting time, he sent in a cross. It was overhit, and Bulgaria broke. Penev chipped a 40-yard ball into the path of Kostadinov, who cut into the box from a narrow angle and thumped an improbable shot in off the underside of the bar. The two players who entered the country without permission had combined to conjure a winning goal with the clock showing 44:59. France were out, Bulgaria were through.

Penev, Ivanov and Mikhailov have fun in Paris

A CAST OF CHARACTERS
Qualification, though, did not bring harmony. The players threatened to strike when part of their bonuses went unpaid. In protest at their protest, the president of the Bulgarian Football Union resigned and, when the coach Dimitar Penev stood by his players, it looked as though he would be ousted. After speaking to possible candidates to replace him, however, the new president, Hristo Danov, decided to compromise.

Almost immediately, though, another crisis sprang up, concerning – not surprisingly – Hristo Stoichkov, the talisman with a personality as prickly as his stubble. He was reluctant to wear the squad’s official Adidas boots, and backed down only when an exasperated Danov threatened personally to buy him a ticket back to Bulgaria.

Still, Stoichkov’s attempts to impose his opinions caused friction, and for much of the tournament he was at loggerheads with playmaker Krasimir Balakov, another player not afraid to speak his mind. “There’s no secret there were some arguments off the pitch,” Mikhailov admits, “but on the field we played as a team.” Eventually.

Bulgaria had a dreadful record in World Cups and, despite qualifying for five previous tournaments, the first in 1962, had failed to win any of the 16 matches they had played. That misery continued in their opener, a 3-0 thrashing by Nigeria. Previous Bulgaria sides might have accepted that that was simply their position in the world, but while their success would eventually shock outsiders, this was a vintage Bulgarian line-up with several key players at the peak of their powers and they were quietly confident, pre-tournament.

Stoichkov had been a European champion with Barcelona two years earlier (and would be named European Footballer of the Year in 1994); Balakov played for Sporting Lisbon, Kostadinov for Porto, Letchkov and Peter Hubchev for Hamburg; while Trifon Ivanov, the bearded, mulleted defender known as ‘The Wolfman’, had left Real Betis earlier that year.

The end of Communism had opened the borders and their moves abroad proved they were better players than they showed against Nigeria. “We’d watched them over 20 times,” groaned coach Penev, who again considered resignation, “but we couldn’t convince the players that the Africans were skilful and very strong.”

Complacency banished, Bulgaria prepared to face Greece, who had impressed in becoming the first European side to qualify. But having had their fragility exposed in losing 4-0 to Argentina in the group opener, the Greeks crumbled once Stoichkov put Bulgaria ahead with a penalty in the fifth minute. Another Stoichkov spot-kick and goals from Letchkov and Daniel Borimirov completed a rout.

“That was really the last chance for our generation to play at a major tournament. We were really a team. When I talked, everybody listened,” said Stoichkov. “After we’d qualified, our next goal was to win a game at the World Cup, so after the defeat to Nigeria it was very hard. But I saw the determination in the eyes of my team-mates and I believed. After that win over Greece, the pressure gradually disappeared.”

"Push! Heh heh"

The win meant a draw against Argentina in their final game would almost certainly be enough to take Bulgaria through as one of the best third-placed teams, but with Argentina shaken by Maradona’s positive drugs test, the Bulgarians did even better. Stoichkov put them ahead before a late Nasko Sirakov goal ensured they finished second in the group.

In the second round they faced Mexico, in a game ruined by the shambolic Syrian referee Jamal Al-Sharif. Stoichkov gave Bulgaria the lead and Alberto Garcia Aspe levelled from the spot, but after Emil Kremenliev and Luis Garcia had both been unfairly sent off early in the second half amid a blizzard of bookings, both teams seemed content to play for penalties. Bulgaria triumphed as Mikhailov, who'd earlier had to adjust his wig because he was sweating so much, saved from Marcelino Bernal and Jorge Rodriguez. The champions awaited.

THEIR FINEST HOUR
Bulgaria revelled in having exceeded expectations, their sense of fun and cast of characters making them everybody’s second-favourite team. Openly partial to a drink and a ciggie, the players celebrated the birthdays of Letchkov and Penev by spending the day before their quarter-final against Germany swimming, sunbathing and generally having fun.

“We combined work and pleasure,” explains Letchkov, matter-of-fact. “We were very good players and became a very good team.” The follicly challenged midfielder took this refreshingly laid-back attitude into the game. “He was telling us ‘We will win. We’re the better team,’” Stoichkov recalls.

Q&A Yordan Letchkov: "A player can only dream about receiving such love and passion from people"

They matched Germany in the first half, and went in level at half-time. The mood should have been positive, but the tension between Stoichkov and Balakov had been mounting, and it boiled over in the dressing-room. “At half-time we said so many things to each other, there was no time for the coach to talk tactics,” Balakov recalls. “He only had time to say, ‘Go out there and do what you have to do.’”

Three minutes later, Letchkov, his earlier confidence seemingly misplaced, fouled Jurgen Klinsmann in the box and Lothar Matthaus converted the penalty to give Germany the lead. “We didn’t lose confidence and we continued to play well,” said Stoichkov. “Then I equalised with a free-kick.” The greats often describe their greatest moments in the most banal terms. The free-kick was 25 yards out, well to the right of goal; for the left-footed Stoichkov, it was ideal. This, he knew, was his chance.

He whipped the ball up and over the wall, and in at Bodo Illgner’s near post, before running away, arms outstretched, head back. As he reached the edge of the pitch, he paused and, just as his team-mates reached him, he crossed himself, and as he did so, the crowd at the Giants Stadium saw the replay from behind the goal on the big screen. As the ball passed a fraction under the bar and a fraction inside the post, a second roar went up in acknowledgement of the perfection of the strike.

Two minutes later, it got even better. Zlatko Yankov crossed from the right, and Letchkov, powering past Thomas Hassler, soared poetically to head into the top left-hand corner: a truly memorable World Cup goal. The goal made the midfielder so famous that after the tournament, Tibetan monks with bald heads would be nicknamed ‘Letchkov’. Germany, whom Franz Beckenbauer had suggested would be unstoppable after reunification, suddenly looked oddly vulnerable, and Bulgaria could have extended their lead.

Hristo & Co celebrate the win over Germany

What followed, sadly, was rather more forgettable, as Bulgaria were well beaten by Italy in the semi-final, undone by two spectacular Roberto Baggio goals, although a Stoichkov penalty did give him a share of the Golden Boot. In the bronze-medal game, they were 4-0 down after 39 minutes when Sweden declared, content to play out the rest of the game without humiliating opponents who had illuminated the tournament.

Perhaps that’s why that Bulgaria side captured the imagination: they shone briefly but brightly before reverting to type. They struggled at Euro 96 before being humiliated 6-1 by Spain at France 98, an ageing team trying in vain to recapture the spirit and style of ’94. That was a one-off.

Q&A Yordan Letchkov: "A player can only dream about receiving such love and passion from people"

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94: Bulgaria’s Big American Adventure!