The Bulgarian national team under 15 years of age ended the first phase of the FIFA World Cup and Festival in Baku with full assets. The team led by Petar Karachorov recorded two new victories - 3:2 over Gabon and Latvia, and deserved the first place in group I with 12 points and a goal difference of 14:7. Thus, the Bulgarian football players continue among the best 32 teams out of a total of 189 participants in the competition.
In the first match of the day, the national team achieved a turnaround against Gabon. The opponent opened the score in the 20th minute through Junel Ivas, but Ivan Dedev responded in added time of the first half and restored the tie before the break - 1:1.
After the game resumed, Bulgaria turned the tide of the match with two goals within three minutes. Teodor Matev scored in the 23rd, and in the 26th Dedev converted a penalty for 3:1. Hans Sito reduced the deficit in the 28th minute, but the Bulgarian team maintained its lead and added a third consecutive success to its assets.
In the final match of the group, the national team also defeated Latvia 3:2. Nik Georgiev, Yoan Yordanov and Ivan Dedev scored for the victory. The success reinforced the excellent performance of the team, which won all four of its matches, after previously overcoming Scotland 3:2 and Lesotho 5:1.
The consistency in the results and the character shown deservedly secured Bulgaria a place in the highest competitive level - A. For the players born in 2011, this is a significant success and an opportunity to compete with the leading teams in the tournament.
The next phase will be held from October 28 to 30. In it, our national team will face Ecuador.
The coach Petar Karachorov highlighted the qualities, responsibility and ability of the players to adapt to various challenges:
„The performance of our boys is great. I dare say that the two more serious matches were against Latvia and Scotland, in which we did excellently. In the matches against Lesotho and Gabon we did not approach with the necessary aggression, but during the matches we managed to find the right rhythm and do well. Every match was different, but most of the time we controlled the events. The boys performed at a high level and showed that they can adapt to different game situations“.