Bulgaria boss has Georgia on his mind

BULGARIAN coach Plamen Markov has told his team that they must now do what Ireland have already done in World Cup qualifying Group 8 — beat Georgia.

But, unlike the Irish, who got the better of the Georgians in Mainz, Germany, the Bulgarians will have to do it the hard way, by taking home three points from Tbilisi on Wednesday.

Having already drawn away to Montenegro, Bulgaria picked up another point at home to Italy on Saturday. But, barely had the final whistle sounded in the Vassil Levski stadium, than the ‘The Lions’ were refocusing on Wednesday’s game.

Said captain Dimitar Berbatov: “Our coach told us in the dressing room after the match that this game is now the key to the group for us.”

Markov himself was saying much the same thing at his post-match press conference.

“We have two points which is okay but we must win in Georgia now or we have lost a good opportunity after getting this point,” he said. “Everyone knows very few teams will draw with Italy so this is a good point for us.”

Although the Bulgarians are annoyed that Ireland would now appear to be the only team in the group who won’t have to play Georgia on home soil, coach Markov was insistent that his players park that sense of injustice and deal with the reality of the situation.

“I have no problem going to Georgia but we must win,” he said. “Ireland beat Georgia so we must do that also. Ireland drew with Montenegro after we drew there. I don’t know if Ireland will draw with Italy.”

Like his coach, Man United striker Berbatov was happy with Bulgaria’s efforts on Saturday.

“A scoreless draw is okay for us because the Italians have super stars,” he said. “So on paper, they should be one class above us. We are not Brazil so we were never going to win 3-0. We must know who we are so 0-0 is fine. We did our job and at the end we held out well for the result.

“It was a game when we needed to battle for everything and show improvisation and good technique. It was like an Italian game but that was part of our plan to hold them and play their game. We took that approach because we knew that a point was not that bad. We had a few scoring chances but so had they so I believe a draw was a fair result.”

Manchester City’s Martin Petrov was singing off the same hymn-sheet.

“The whole team is satisfied with this draw,” he said. “Italy are the world champions after all. It was a very tactical game — maybe Bulgaria dominated at certain times but so did Italy at other times. And both sides had one or two chances to score. I thought we were well-organised and deserved the point — but now it’s vital that we get our first win, against Georgia, on Wednesday.”

Italian manager Marcello Lippi maintained that he too was going home happy, although clearly he would have been happier still if his side’s endeavour had produced a greater reward.

“I am happy we made it a game,” said the Italian manager. “Bulgaria were happy with the 0-0. Probably happier than us. We started well and I thought we were going to go and win the game. In the second half, it was tighter and Bulgaria had a good chance at the end. We played better than in the September games but I am disappointed with our creation of chances, and that we did not test their goalkeeper enough.

“But it could be an important point for us, it could be an important point for Bulgaria, I do not know,” he added.