Bulgarian basketball superstar Alexander Vezenkov heads the list of 15 basketball players that the head coach of the men's national team Rosen Barchovski has named to prepare for the preliminary qualifications for the 2027 World Cup, FOCUS reported.
The matches will be played in August, and the national team is in Group "C", along with the teams of Austria and the Netherlands.
Due to injuries, captain Pavlin Ivanov, Nikolay Stoyanov and Georgi Boyanov, as well as naturalized American Cody Miller-McIntyre, who is treating an injury in the United States, dropped out of the preliminary group.
Alexander Stoimenov, Borislav Mladenov and two other naturalized Americans - David Kravish and Brandon Young.
Here are the chosen ones of Rosen Barchovski:
Alexander Vezenkov
Dimitar Dimitrov
Yordan Minchev
Ivan Alipiev
Emil Stoilov
Konstantin Kostadinov
Borislav Mladenov
Alexander Stoimenov
Nikolai Mihaylov
Miroslav Vasov
Konstantin Toshkov
Lachezar Toshkov
Ilian Pishchikov
Brandon Young
David Kravish
In the headquarters of the senior coach Rosen Barchovski includes Vasil Hristov, debutant Lyubomir Kirov and Daniel Klechkov, who will join after completing his commitments with the national youth team under 18.
The national team gathers for a camp in Samokov on July 15. The team will stay there until July 23. A day later, the Bulgarians leave for Ruse, where on July 26 and 28 they will play two friendly matches with Romania.
The national team will then continue their preparation in Samokov on July 30, where they will also play the first of their home matches from the preliminary world qualifiers.
Bulgaria hosts the Netherlands on August 9 at the "SamElion Arena" in Samokov, while its second home match will be at the "Arena Botevgrad" on August 16.
The Bulgarian national team will begin their World Cup pre-qualifications with a visit to Austria on August 6, with a visit to the Netherlands on August 20.
Barchovski also commented on the situation on the BF Basketball website.
"My plans also included Pavlin Ivanov, Nikolay Stoyanov and Georgi Boyanov, who have not recovered from injuries and are unlikely to be ready by July 15 - Barchovski explained his choice. - There is not much time and they are simply not ready, that is the only reason. Cody Miller-McIntyre also has a problem with some kind of stress factor in his leg and that is why he is not in the squad. He is in the USA. Of course, there are also new players naturally. There is also rejuvenation, this is a normal process“.
Barchovski also commented on the possibility of a new captain for the team, since Pavlin Ivanov will not play in the qualifiers in question.
"There will most likely be a new captain, but I have not yet determined one– said Barchovski. - The team meets on July 15 in Samokov, and on the 26th and 28th we will play two control matches with Romania in Ruse. We will travel to Ruse only for the checks and return to Samokov. After that, the program is as it is.
This is the squad, but there may be some changes, so the extended list is long. Anything is possible, I hope everyone is healthy and that no changes need to be made“.