The interim coach of the Bulgarian men's national football team Atanas Ribarski gave his first official press conference before Iceland's visit in the Nations League tournament. The specialist, who also serves as the national coach of the under-19 team, took over the representative team after Alexander Dimitrov resigned for the upcoming matches with Iceland and Luxembourg.
The young coach emphasized that during the two days available, his staff focused on in-depth video analysis to familiarize the players with the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent.
Ribarski emphasized the serious growth of Icelandic football over the last decade and their participation in Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup:
„These were two intense days in which we did not have time. We tried to collect as much information as possible about our opponent during this period. I will leave Iceland's weaknesses to myself. The opponent is very strong in static situations. We had more time for visualization, not on the field. I want to play as a team. The idea will certainly remain verbally conveyed, because there was no time to train it. I know that the idea has been conveyed to us, because we have quite good football players.“
The former head coach of CSKA 1948 was categorical that he believes in the qualities of the football players and their desire to clear the negative impressions from the first two matches:
“There is no comfortable level in football. The responsibility in the national team is greater. The first two results are negative, but they are in the past. I trust the boys a lot. As a coach of the 19-year-olds, I give the men's team as an example, I give their careers as an example. The motivation is to hear the anthem, to represent your homeland. Whether it will be for one or two matches, I don't know. I will give my all, with the risks that exist for me.“
According to the coach, fans of the tricolors will see a team eager to prove itself and ready to pursue a ranking in a major international forum.