The coach of the Bulgarian national team Alexander Dimitrov explained what the plan was for the match with Spain, lost today with 0:4. According to him, the mental instability received after the heavy loss to Turkey (1:6 on Saturday in Sofia) is still evident. In addition, the many accumulated defeats also have their negative impact.
“Spain always slaps hard", Dimitrov began after referring to his answer the day before the match that this Bulgarian team "will eat a lot of slaps". "But first, let me congratulate the young players for the 2:1 victory over the strong Czech team. This gives us the opportunity to look optimistically. I am very disappointed with the results in both matches. We entered after a heavy loss. We saw psychological instability in our players“, Dimitrov began.
“They tried their best to implement the match plan. They came in with confidence, with aggression, we could have scored 1-2 goals“.
Then Spanish journalists asked him what he thought of Pedri and the selection of Luis de la Fuente. “Pedri? An excellent footballer, you have many excellent ones. Luis de la Fuente has many people at a high level, despite the shortages. We were hoping that Pedri would not play either. I want to congratulate Spanish football with the methodology and the way you are building. They are great personalities and great footballers. This has been built for many years. This style of play has been developing since the 17-year-olds many years ago.
He explained the overall situation in the team: “Yes, there is tension – he has suffered many losses. But apart from the counterattack, the instructions were to get a second ball and quickly pass through the second and third zones and hold on longer, to change the front of the attack. But you all saw – Spain applies a terrifying press, they don't give you the opportunity to play the ball and make a decision“.
After 10 months without a win, what is the path for the Bulgarian national football team? “With more young players we will try to close the gap. Today I am very pleased with the young players who participated in both matches. The mistakes of youth, the penalty was quite easy – the guy from Spain had his back. The bad thing is that we also conceded goals in added time with Turkey today. Yes, goals in the second half are becoming a trend, we will analyze this. But it is not only a matter of physics, but also of mental preparation".
Slaviya defender Martin Georgiev recorded his first match with the men's national team. Although his mistakes caused two of the goals in the Bulgarian goal, he is happy to have played against the European champion.
"I want to express my gratitude to the coaches and the coaching staff for the trust they have shown, because for me this is a very special moment. Debut against a European champion, I dreamed of this. The only thing you can do is enjoy the match, even though we defended 90% of the time. It was difficult", the young footballer began.
“Given the results, the feeling itself is not very pleasant, but as a team we are trying to rise after the difficult results. It won't be easy, because there are still difficult matches ahead," Martin Georgiev said.
Finally, he congratulated the youth national team for their 2:1 victory over the Czech Republic today.
" This is a very big victory, important for the qualification cycle. Youth and men are one and I hope Bulgarian football grows," the defender added.
Bulgaria's captain Kiril Despodov had two good opportunities to score a goal against the European champion, with the second half being particularly good. He went up alone against goalkeeper Unai Simon after a pass from Filip Krastev, but the ball went wide of the post.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't score. I didn't play the situations in the best way. Spain had 30 shots, but they still had possession most of the time," said the winger of Greek PAOK on this issue.
"These losses are hard to accept. We played against extremely strong opponents. But the defeat by Turkey was much harder to accept. We have to fix things after analyzing. The group is tough, the Spanish players are unique, but these are clichés," added Despodov.
He believes that every national team suffers from the criticism of the team.
"Every single player would be offended by the criticism. We all have to work together for Bulgaria. We are all in this together - we all win together. When we lose, we all feel sad and try to get out of the situation, Despodov concluded.
Leeds United midfielder Iliya Gruev said that the match was expectedly difficult for the Bulgarian team, as Spain's midfield is made up of top world-class players. Pedri, Martin Subimendi and the especially active Alex Baena today dominated the entire match.
"It was very difficult, which is what we expected. We put everything we had and gave our best. The results are not good, but the group is very tough. We are a team and we have to try to get out of this situation together. We have to focus on the basic things - for example, being more compact. That's what we have and that's the reality. As a team, we have to help each other," Gruev began.
The Werder Bremen youngster was also asked if there was tension between him and the coaches and if so, what caused it.
"I don't know where the rumors about scandals come from. I didn't play against Turkey, I wanted to play. This is the coach's decision, which I have to comply with," added the Leeds player.
Radoslav Kirilov - one of the most experienced in the Bulgarian national football team, sees much greater potential in his teammates than the results show.
“We may not be a great figure in football, but our potential is not what the results show. We have to show it and get out of this difficult psychological situation. With patience and work it should happen“, said the Levski winger, who had a chance today, but failed to realize it.
"Maybe we are not a great player in football, but that is not our potential. We have to try and show it and get out of this difficult psychological situation. With patience and work we have to get out", shared Kirilov.
"We need to extract the potential of this team, and it is not what we have shown in recent matches. We have two more matches to finish these qualifiers with a better face“, said the author of the only goal for Bulgaria so far in the four matches.
The director of the national football teams Kiril Kotev congratulated coach Alexander Dimitrov for including the two debutants Martin Georgiev and Atanas Chernev in the starting lineup for today's match with Spain in the World Cup qualifiers.
According to him, the situation was much more difficult before the match, as the team arrived in Valladolid after a 1:6 defeat by Turkey in Sofia.
“We were in a very difficult situation after the match with Turkey and it was very difficult for the boys to recover both physically and psychologically. We succeeded to some extent. The important and good thing about the match is that they managed to give it their all and there were no such amplitudes in the game and this decline. A very brave move by the head coach to let two debutants into the defensive line. Congratulations for that, and this is the way - to bring in new and young guys and chase the goals we have set for ourselves", Kotev began.
"It is normal when there are no results, for there to be criticism. The boys need to overcome them as quickly as possible. Victories and good results will lead to much greater self-confidence and we need to get points now to raise our self-esteem“, the director added.
The question then arises whether these mistakes are justified, since even if the debutants today made mistakes, they become three in two games. And the lack of maturity at some points against the European champions cost goals and a swelling of the score.
"We need to get over this. Bringing in new names, this is the way and this is what we wanted. There will be more. Today they made mistakes, but they also showed a good game and congratulations to them. I also want to congratulate the youth national team, because they recorded a victory under the new coach. The 19-year-olds also recorded a good victory in Moldova with a new coach. This is the way. There are young guys who have a future. This is the way", said Kotev, referring to the success of the under-21 team over the Czech Republic and that of the 19-year-olds in a friendly match with Moldova.
“We had very difficult days after the match with Turkey. The boys trained well. The result today is not small, but the class is quite different. Spain are on another level“.
Bulgaria will miss the seventh consecutive World Cup, after the team lost even theoretical chances to reach one of the first two places today. But Kotev believes that the indications were in this direction. In the following two matches in November with Turkey and Georgia, however, points will be sought.
“It was clear from the draw that it would be very difficult to qualify. But there are two more matches and we can take points. After the first two matches, we decided to change the way we work a little with new guys, new players, and we will continue to do so,” the boss concluded.