GROUP EIGHT:WIN OR bust. That was the message from Bulgarian manager Stanimir Stoilov as he prepared for tonight's World Cup Qualifying Group Eight game against the Republic of Ireland.
Bulgaria’s new coach had suggested earlier in the week that his side could afford to lose and still manage to qualify for South Africa. But Stoilov had revised his opinion when he met the Irish press yesterday evening.
“If we lose this game we can say goodbye to the World Cup,” he stated. “We are not interested that we are going to be playing in Dublin. We will play to win. We have already made too many mistakes so we can’t afford to lose any more points. The best chance for qualification is to win against Ireland and Italy.”
Three points from their opening three matches was not the return expected from the group’s second seeds. Blame for the team’s current plight can hardly be laid at Stoilov’s door. Plamen Markov was sacked in December in an effort to turn things around but the new man has inherited a team suffering from a crisis of confidence.
Things went from bad to worse in the last week with Dimitar Berbatov and Valeri Bojinov joining Martin Petrov on the injured list and the 41-year-old Stoilov readily concedes that preparations have been far from smooth.
“It’s a fact that we are coming here to Dublin with big problems, with injuries to important players,” he admitted. “The stars of the Bulgarian team, like Berbatov, are out.”
With little point in sitting back and playing for the draw, Stoilov will adopt an attacking formation against Giovanni Trapattoni’s side. Not only would a win revive Bulgaria’s fortunes, it would also place a serious question mark over Ireland’s ability to emerge from this group.
“No matter, with all these problems, we won’t give up. We will fight to the end and all the players are ready to give everything to win this game,” he added.
“I know that Ireland is a very strong team, very well organised in attack and defence,” he observed. “The presence of Giovanni Trapattoni has changed the way Ireland play, they are very strong tactically, and are playing well for the whole 90 minutes.
“Trapattoni has changed the discipline of the team on the pitch. We are not so disciplined so I hope tomorrow we will play like Ireland.”
Having already resigned himself to being without Berbatov, Stoilov seemed genuinely bemused by the conspiracy theory that the Manchester United striker could yet make an appearance at Croke Park.
“He’s not here, he is in Manchester,” shrugged the former Litex Lovech coach. “He is injured.”
“You are very scared of Berbatov, is it true?” he asked the Irish journalists. “We will have a new Berbatov for you tomorrow, a younger one.”
When pressed as to the identity of this “new Berbatov”, Stoilov joked: “We are still waiting for him to land.”
And while Trapattoni was happy to admit Berbatov’s injury is a good thing for Ireland, Stoilov, publicly at least, expressed regret that Damien Duff has been ruled out. “That’s the type of player who is good for the game, the same as Berbatov,” he said of the Newcastle winger. “They have to be on the pitch, it’s a pity they cannot play.”
