"They didn't give me the opportunity to play against Argentina at the World Cup in Mexico in 1986. After the match with South Korea (1:1), one of our football officials at the time - Ivan Shpatov, accused me of being a traitor. I have no idea why. "That's how I couldn't play against Maradona and company," shares Bozhidar Iskrenov in the Topsport podcast "Without Reserves."
The joy of the people told more interesting stories from his personal and football life.
The 62-year-old former Levski footballer, who recently published his biographical book "Without Shoes," is a champion and winner of the Bulgarian Cup with the "blues," and also won the national award with the CSKA team.
"I slept normally, I woke up like any other day," remembers Gibbon about the morning, after he was already a player for the "army."
"When I went to the "Army," Uncle Dobri made me happy by calling me and showing me the inscription on the snow on the stadium track: "Welcome, Gibi!, which couldn't help but make me happy, he admits.
In his career, Iskrenov also played for the teams of Botev Pd, Shumen and Septemvri, recording several appearances in European club tournaments with their teams.
Abroad, he defended the colors of Real Zaragoza, Lausanne and Washington Warthogs, where he ended his competitive career.
Since 2025, he has returned to work in his native Levski, as the coordinator of the youth team of the "blues".
The Joy of the People also told interesting things about the scandalous final of the Bulgarian Cup, played on June 19, 1985, when CSKA defeated Levski 2:1. In one of the periods, there was a scuffle between players from both teams, and then there were penalties, with some of them receiving life sentences - one of the players is Hristo Stoichkov.
"I was injured, I didn't play and maybe that saved me, otherwise I would have probably suffered too. Then they renamed the teams Vitosha and Sredets, but I never heard the fans of both teams chanting these names - for them they always remained Levski and CSKA. It's complete nonsense that after the final in the tunnel of the national stadium there was a fight, the cup was broken, etc. Someone just decided to come up with this version," Gibbona also shared.