Bulgaria - Sweden (WC Qual. 26.03)

[sly]

BULGARIA - SWEDEN

It's still a bit early,but Bulgaria is in a very difficult situation before this game.
Our captain and best player in midfield Stilian Petrov (Celtic) is suspended for this game.So is Martin Petrov (Wolfsburg).Marian Hristov (Wolfsburg) is injured again,Chavdar Jankov (Slavia) is recovering from an injury and will have to play his first game after the injury exactly against Sweden.The misery in the midfield was completed yesterday - CSKA's captain Emil Gargorov broke his arm.But the offensive problems are even bigger - shooting star Valeri Bojinov (Fiorentina) is injured and Dimitar Berbatov is doubtful (he'll be ready,but without game practice).I already mentioned that M.Petrov is out too.Manchev (Levante) is out of form (he scored a goal last round,his first after a long-long time).
Stoichkov has added forward Georgi Ivanov and midfielders Alexander Alexandrov and Daniel Borimirov to the squad.I really don't see how they can help,but there are no others right now.
And our record against Sweden is not the best:
14-JUN-04 LISBON (Portugal) Sweden vs. Bulgaria 5:0 (1:0) UEFA EURO 2004
04-SEP-99 STOCKHOLM (Sweden) Sweden vs. Bulgaria 1:0 UEFA EURO 2000 Prel. Comp.
14-OCT-98 BURGAS (Bulgaria) Bulgaria vs. Sweden 0:1 (0:0) UEFA EURO 2000 Prel. Comp.
16-JUL-94 LOS ANGELES (USA) Sweden vs. Bulgaria 4:0 (4:0) 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™
08-SEP-93 SOFIA (Bulgaria) Bulgaria vs. Sweden 1:1 (1:1) FIFA WC 1994 Prel. Comp. UEFA
07-OCT-92 STOCKHOLM (Sweden) Sweden vs. Bulgaria 2:0 (0:0) FIFA WC 1994 Prel. Comp. UEFA
26-SEP-90 STOCKHOLM (Sweden) Sweden vs. Bulgaria 2:0 (0:0) Friendly 1990
15-JUN-74 DUSSELDORF (FRG) Sweden vs. Bulgaria 0:0 1974 FIFA World Cup Germany™

Group standings:
1. Sweden 4 3 0 1 14:2 9
2. Bulgaria 3 2 1 0 9:4 7
3. Croatia 3 2 1 0 6:2 7
4. Hungary 4 2 0 2 5:8 6
5. Iceland 4 0 1 3 4:10 1
6. Malta 4 0 1 3 1:13 1

As you can see one very important game for both nations.Due to the many injuries and suspensions i see Sweden as a clear favourite in the game,but i won't bet against my country.

[Moldoveanu]

jeeze man why all the freaking games played at Sweden and only 1 at bulagaria i dont get it!!

why the hell would u risk the good players before the Qualification games
its important for your country and u play for ur stupid club which probably wont make any sense in winning

have to be healthy for the qualification game stay on the bench and come
at late games in the 80th minute jesus christ i dont get why the people are completely not understand the game of soccer when to play and when not to play

[sly]

Where should i begin,Moldo :roll:
1.If you look closer,you'll see that many of the games were played on world cup finals,european championships or just friendlies.So basically 2 games in Sweden (+1 friendly) and 2 in Bulgaria.Others on neutral ground.
2.Why risk your health before a qualifier?
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Who pays these players?The clubs!They are pros,they can't go to the coach and say:"Hey man,look,i have a game for my country in 1 month,can i play only at 50%,so i don't risk an injury?".
Besides,many players don't give a sh*t about how and if they play for their country,coz they are payed by the clubs and playing for your country is just an honour (should be) :arrow: no money there.
If you don't know it,i can tell you that many players are playing not at 100% for their countries,because they fear an injury.Why?
injury :arrow: not available at their club for some time :arrow: less money (best case,worst case club coach is mad and kicks them out of the squad :arrow: even less money)
Sad,but true

In the bulgarian case it's just unlucky coincidence that so many players are out.I can't imagine that some of them just want to skip the game for whatsoever reasons

[dimitrov]

Without Valeri Bojinov,Martin Petrov and Stilian Petrov we cant win.
I am waitng the odds and if away win is higher then @2 i ll take it.

[sly]

Without Valeri Bojinov,Martin Petrov and Stilian Petrov we cant win.
I am waitng the odds and if away win is higher then @2 i ll take it.

Betandwin's offer right now:
Bulgaria - Sweden 2.40 3.05 2.70

I'm hoping for a draw,but it's more the hope of a fan.If I wasn't biased,i would take this 2.70 without thinking very long.Sweden beats us always and everywhere and with all the injuries now it's even worse than usual.At least the stadium will be full,so the team will get enough support.Trust me,they'll need it very much.

[dimitrov]

2.70 AWAY 8O 8O 8O I cant believe. I will take away win with small cover on Draw.

[sly]

Sweden's squad for the game (from fifa.com):

Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (Stade Rennes), Magnus Hedman (Celtic)

Defenders: Erik Edman (Tottenham Hotspur), Petter Hansson (Heerenveen), Fredric Lundqvist (GIF Sundsvall), Teddy Lucic (BK Hacken), Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa), Mikael Nilsson (Southampton), Alexander Ostlund (Feyenoord)

Midfielders: Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Gothenburg), Daniel Andersson (Malmo), Kim Kallstrom (Stade Rennes), Tobias Linderoth (FC Copenhagen), Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal), Anders Svensson (Southampton), Christian Wilhelmsson (Anderlecht)

Forwards: Marcus Allback (Hansa Rostock), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus), Mattias Jonson (Norwich City), Markus Rosenberg (Malmo)

To all swedish friends here (or to experts for swedish football):Any important players missing,i know about Larsson,but somebody else?

[Palini]

No important swedish players are missing except for Larsson, and possibly Michael Svensson. Ljungberg took a knock in the latest game for Arsenal, but are still expected to play.

[sly]

Odds for away win are falling,now @2.55,Bulgaria to win also @2.55.Obviously bookies reacted to the injury problems in our team.
If the odds for home win continue to rise,i might give it a shot,even when i rate Sweden as the big favourite.I already said that the stadium will be full (tickets were sold out in just 2 days) and our players are extremely motivated to break the spell against Sweden.This time Bulgaria will try to win not (only) with beautiful football,but with big fighting spirit.And Sweden seems to have (small) problems after the EURO and after Tommy Soderberg left the team.The absence of H.Larsson is also a big problem imo.With all due respect to their other strikers (including Zlatan),Larsson is a class above them.
Zlatan is the main danger for the bulgarian team.Stoichkov is still thinking how to stop him.One option is Rosen Kirilov,very experienced defender,but his best years are may be already behind.Hristo's favourite is Asen Karaslavov (Slavia),a young player.I watched him against CSKA and i hope that he just had a bad day,otherwise Zlatan will make him crazy.
Other possible weakness is our keeper - Ivankov.He is a decent keeper,but makes stupid mistakes sometimes and has problems with high balls in the penalty area.
Our midfield is quite good even without Stilian and Martin Petrov.We have dangerous players like Janev and Kamburov (he probably won't start though) and talented youngsters like Jankov (recovered from injury) and Blago Georgiev (in great form).
Attack - not much to say.Berbatov is Bulgaria's best player at the moment.Everybody expect only the best from him.Manchev is expected to help him against Sweden.

I will update if something interesting comes up till the game.

[sly]

Some opinions on the game taken from "Who WIll Qualify for 2006 World Cup"-topic.

I dont think, Sweden can beat Bulgaria away, it is a tough place to win, even with all Bulgarian problems. I expect a match, where both teams play cautius and at the end, a draw woudnt be surprise under circumstances.
:?:

I'm also thinking in this direction,but i'm waiting for Stoichkov's formation and tactics,before taking a decision on what to bet (or if to bet at all or just relax and hope for the best /for BG/ )

I believe Sweden will go for a win and make it. Since they lost at home to Croatia they must in reality win an away game against some of the other top teams in the group. Sweden has had "easy" with 4 wins in a row and 11-0 in goals against Bulgaria.

Sweden won't win against us forever,Karra.Stoichkov is determined to beat them this time.So don't lean back on past meetings too much.We have a different team now,with many young and hungry for success players.

By results Bulgaria so far the most impressive.
as for Sweden (?) Larson absence is a big blow imo and players like Ljungberg (top class) showed he can miss a shot from 2m facing empty net.
That leaves us Ibrahimovic as star to hang on to. (not that slick recently).
As it looks no shining stars but team effort will decide.
Now this point Bulgaria would be heavy favorite at home only those suspentions came the wrong time...

[kamei24]

I think that the best bet here is UNDER..

It will be hard for Sweden to win in Bulgaria, despite some important missings Bulgaria have.. And despite Sweden's good record against them..

For me this is easily low scoring match, both sides will be carefull and try not to loose.. Hometeam is aware of their important missings, and I think they won't hurry and risk anything.. As well as Sweden, who will be satisfied with one point.. So for me, all results with max 2 goals are possible..

That's my early opinion of this match.. See ya later..

[Karra]

Sly is beginning this topic with very much pessimism and says Sweden is very clear favourites and he would bet for Sweden with 2.7 if he wasn't biased. I took Sweden with 2.65 since the odds have fallen for AW now.
But now in his latest post he says "Sweden won't win against us forever,Karra.Stoichkov is determined to beat them this time." :lol:
What has made your mind change so radically :?: Or is it just your national pride taken over your rational thinking :?:

I believe Sweden will go for a win and not settle for a draw as some wrote, they want the 3 points in order to have a good chance to win the group.
Sweden has allways made good results against teams with not so good disciplin and organization like Bulgaria is. Bulgaria is a very on-off team, in their best moments they're very good, but if things start to go the wrong way they'll give up too easily some times. They're are not so constant and reliable as Sweden. Swedens strength is also their very well organized defence and team spirit and they have good counter-attacking players in Ljungberg, Zlatan i.e. They have also a star in rising, perhaps, in Markus Rosenberg, a good goalscoring forward, not to mention Allbäck with a goal every 2 internationals. Henrik Larsson isn't so much missed any longer IMO.

[sly]

Sly is beginning this topic with very much pessimism and says Sweden is very clear favourites and he would bet for Sweden with 2.7 if he wasn't biased. I took Sweden with 2.65 since the odds have fallen for AW now.
But now in his latest post he says "Sweden won't win against us forever,Karra.Stoichkov is determined to beat them this time." :lol:
What has made your mind change so radically :?: Or is it just your national pride taken over your radical thinking :?:

It's not only the national pride,but also the atmosphere in the team right now.From player interviews and what bulgarian journalists wrote i get the feeling that the team is ready for this challenge and highly motivated.You can't compare this game with last games with Sweden,especially EURO 2004,where we had some problems inside the team.Stoichkov is a born winner and he tries to pass this mentality to the players (with success till now).And against Croatia Bulgaria showed team spirit in the second half.I still think our chances are not that good,because of the quality of the missing players.But Sweden is as you said one very organized team,nothing more,no real stars (only Zlatan and Ljungberg on a good day).So they are surely not unbeatable.
Why i started with pessimism?Expect the worst,hope for the best :lol:
Seriosly,i expected that most players will try to hide behind the injury problems and lose the game in their heads even before the start.The opposite is the case.
So,as i said in the previous post,i will wait for Stoichkov's formation before "making up my mind".If he tries to play offensive football from the start,Bulgaria is doomed.If he tries to control the game and wait for the right chance,then it's 50:50.I personally think he is not that stupid to repeat ex-coach Markov's mistake from the EURO.
I hope i answered most of your questions now

Edit:Just to make it clear.If i have to bet on this game,i'll still take Sweden not to lose,because odds are still tempting.And the 2,65 you've taken is a nice value.Don't get me wrong,i say Bulgaria really wants to win,not they will win.

[Karra]

Thanks for your reply sly. You give very good info about the Bulgarian troup, which we couldn't get here else.
I misunderstood you a bit before, you wrote "Sweden won't beat us forever". I thought you meant Sweden won't beat us evermore. The English language is sometimes hard to understand. :wink:

[FLAME]

I think away win is good bet in this game. Yes Stoichkov is a lucky guy, but i think in this game Sweden is a favorite.We have problems in almost every line of the squad. And who the **** can stop Zlatan???I don't know.
I'll bet some money on Sweden. If we don't lose I'll be happy with the good result. If Sweden beat us I'll be happy winning some money.