Stoilov not surprised by Ireland

IN THE week leading up to Saturday night’s game at Croke Park, there had been mixed signals coming from Bulgarian coach Stanimir Stoilov.

At first, he was quoted as saying that, having done the calculations, he had determined that even a defeat in Dublin would not terminate his side’s World Cup qualifying hopes.

But, in the days coming up to kick-off, he appeared to change his tune, suggesting that only a win would really kick-start their campaign after three draws in their first three matches and the ensuing turmoil in the camp which had seen him installed as a replacement for sacked coach Plamen Markov.

But the poker-faced Stoilov was singing a different tune again after he saw his side come back from the loss of a first-minute goal to claim a share of the spoils on Saturday.

“We came here to win but I am very satisfied with the draw, especially considering the injuries we had and the early goal we conceded,” he said. “In the first half we had chances to score and to win would have been better but we are still in the race and the most important game for us now is on Wednesday at home to Cyprus.

“If we get three points against Cyprus then in June we will have Dimitar Berbatov and Valeri Bojinov back for the game against Ireland. But at this moment, I’m not worried about the games against Ireland and Italy, I am more worried about the games against Cyprus and Georgia. I am sure that the game against Cyprus will be much tougher than the game against Ireland.”

If that sounded like an indictment of Ireland’s performance, Stoilov was quick to add that the difficulty of the Cypriot game lay in the added pressure of his side playing at home and having to win, as well as the fact that the Bulgarians have even more injury worries to contend with after the match in Dublin.

“Ireland is a very good team with a good future, very well prepared tactically, and they have a good coach,” he said.

However, there was surely an implicit criticism of the Irish tactics when Stoilov went on to say that the home side’s attempt at a containing game had come as no surprise.

“I’m not surprised, they play all the games like this,” he said. “Especially the last two which they won but with a bit of luck. We cannot play that way, in Sofia especially. We will not play like this. We will attack.”

Although Saturday night’s draw means the gap between Ireland and Bulgaria remains at seven points, there could be a significant change in Group 8 on Wednesday depending on results in Bari and Sofia.

If Ireland lose to Italy and Bulgaria defeat Cyprus, the gap would be just four points — with the Bulgarians retaining a game in hand when Ireland travel to Sofia on June 6.

Stoilov says that with Italy now hot favourites to win the group, the battle for second-place is between his side, Ireland and Cyprus — the Cypriots, who also have a game in hand, having joined Bulgaria on four points following their victory over Georgia on Saturday.