Atanas Ribarski described Bulgaria’s 0-5 defeat to Iceland as heavy and inexplicable. After the match in Plovdiv, the head coach said the only thing the team could do was apologise to the fans.
“We conceded a penalty, then there was a moment of inattention for the second goal. After that, it became very difficult,” Ribarski told Gong.bg. He also pointed to lost duels, mistakes in possession and poor organisation in the penalty area as the main reasons for the thrashing.
“We lost duels in many areas of the pitch, we lost the ball. A lot of unforced errors,” the interim head coach added.
Gruev: Iceland were superior to us in everything
Captain Iliya Gruev also admitted the opponents’ superiority. “A very heavy defeat. A lot of very simple and individual mistakes on our part. I think the result is deserved. They were superior to us in everything,” the Leeds player said.
Gruev added that Bulgaria must quickly turn its attention to the final match in the group against Estonia. The game is on 16 November.
Iceland took the lead in the 17th minute through Andri Gudjohnsen from the penalty spot, and five minutes later Orri Oskarsson made it 2-0. Emil Tsenov scored an own goal in the 53rd minute before Gudjohnsen found the net twice more to make it 5-0.
Iceland’s staff praise strong start
Iceland head coach Arnar Gunnlaugsson told Fótbolti.net that his team had been focused from the first minute. “We got our strongest players in good shape and they showed what they are capable of,” he said.
Gunnlaugsson rejected the explanation that the result was solely due to a poor performance by Bulgaria. He called for attention to also be paid to Iceland’s high press, control of the ball and disciplined play.
The coach confirmed that captain Orri Oskarsson was substituted at half-time because of accumulated physical fatigue. Iceland will finish the group stage at home against Luxembourg, with a victory guaranteeing them first place.
Gudjohnsen: Almost a perfect match
Andri Gudjohnsen, the scorer of three goals, described Iceland’s performance as almost perfect. “We were fully focused and played very well with the ball and in the high press,” the striker told Fótbolti.net.
Orri Oskarsson, who scored the second goal, admitted that he had expected more resistance from Bulgaria. “I expected more from them, more spirit and a more difficult start,” Iceland’s captain said.
After the victory, Iceland are top of Group C4 with 11 points. Estonia are second with 9, Bulgaria are third with 4, while Luxembourg have 3 points. The Bulgarian team no longer have a chance of promotion to a higher division.
Sources: gong.bg, bnrnews.bg, fotbolti.net