Atanas Ribarski has announced Bulgaria's squad for the final two matches in Group C4 of the Nations League. Three debutants for the men's national team have been included in the list of 24 players – Ludogorets defender Simeon Shishkov, AEK Larnaca midfielder Ivan Pankov and Cherno More forward Georgi Lazarov.
Twenty-year-old Shishkov has established himself as Ludogorets' first-choice left-back this season. He has already made appearances for the youth national team, but this is his first call-up to the senior side. Pankov is also 20 years old and can play both in midfield and as a right-back. He joined AEK Larnaca in the summer.
Plamen Andreev is among the goalkeepers once again. The Debrecen goalkeeper has already been included in Bulgaria's squad, but is still awaiting his debut in the national team jersey. The first of the two matches is against Iceland on 13 November at 21:45 at Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv. Three days later, Bulgaria will visit Estonia in Tallinn. The match is scheduled for 16 November at 19:00 Bulgarian time.
Bulgaria reached these matches after a 0:3 away defeat to Iceland and a 2:0 victory over Luxembourg in October. The success in Luxembourg was Bulgaria's first in the tournament and kept the team's hopes of a better finish in the group alive.
Ribarski will lead the team until the end of the Nations League, while the Bulgarian Football Union is preparing to appoint a permanent head coach. BFS president Georgi Ivanov confirmed that the decision to appoint an interim coach was linked to the need to buy time for the selection of a new manager.
“The boys have enough footballing confidence, which they show at their clubs. They need a little more positivity. My assessment of the past seven days is positive,” Atanas Ribarski told BGNES.
Bulgaria's full squad
Goalkeepers: Daniel Naumov, Plamen Andreev, Aleks Bozhev.
Defenders: Emil Tsenov, Simeon Shishkov, Rosen Bozhinov, Teodor Ivanov, Ivan Turitsov, Hristiyan Petrov, Dimitar Velkovski, Stefan Velkov, Yoan Stoyanov.
Midfielders: Ilia Gruev, Andrian Kraev, Ivaylo Chochev, Ivan Pankov, Asen Chandarov, Georgi Rusev.
Forwards: Marin Petkov, Lukas Petkov, Martin Minchev, Atanas Iliev, Georgi Lazarov, Kristian Balov.