Martin Kamburov praised national coach Ilian Iliev for the work he does at the helm of the team and said that Bulgaria has the strength to beat Ireland in Dublin and win a place in League "B" of the League of Nations, BTA reported.
The number 1 scorer in the history of Bulgarian football is part of the national team delegation for the visit to the Irish capital. The Bulgarian national team will try to turn the tide of the match after the 1:2 defeat in Plovdiv on Thursday and play in League "B" for the second time.
Kamburov is in the company of two more former football players and national players – Valeri Bozhinov and Alexander Alexandrov-Kriviya. However, surprisingly, the group does not include the president of the Professional League, Atanas Karaivanov, who has always been with the team on away trips.
Kamburov admitted that he is no longer actively involved in football, he has other activities, but he follows both the championship and the national team. Asked if he would take a position in the Bulgarian Football Union and that is why he is traveling, he replied: "No, no. I am just friends with a lot of people, with Kotev for example. And they invited me. Now my team Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) is suspended and I cannot go to a single match. So I am using this opportunity."
As a former striker, he was asked why the attack was toothless in Plovdiv in the second half.
"When the attack is toothless, it means the whole team did not create chances. A striker needs 2-3 balls to feel the game and "set the sights", as they say".
"The other thing we have to keep in mind is that our striker, who played in this position, does not belong there. He is not for this position. For me, Ilian Iliev is doing his job perfectly, I exclude one result, but this is normal. The team is obviously playing better, but he needs to be given time. You see how Cherno More is performing, where he has been working for a long time. He is a good specialist and he needs to work", added Kamburov.
"The Irish are nothing special. We got a crazy goal out of nowhere. That's how the match turned out, but this is the style of the Irish. They scored two goals against us after our mistakes. We should not worry about them, we just need to play freely tomorrow. I hope we win. "The Irish have expensive players, but in terms of play they are not superior to ours," concluded the former striker.