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Hristo Stoichkov

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Hristo Stoichkov
Personal information
Full name Hristo Stoichkov
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Coach
(former striker)
Team information
Current team
 Celta Vigo

Hristo Stoichkov alternatively spelt Stoitchkov (Template:Lang-bg) (born February 8, 1966, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a football manager and former striker who was a member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Apart from his footballing talent, he was notable for his on-pitch temper. He was honoured as European Footballer of the Year in 1994. He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony in 2004.

Playing style

Stoichkov played as a left attacker/winger. He was known for his explosive acceleration and speed dribbling, and for taking unpredictable shots on goal. He was also notable at taking free kicks and penalties. He gained much popularity because of his aggressive temper on the pitch. He could often be seen arguing with the referee, or with his opponents. He is currently being sued by a former American University college student whose leg he broke in a violent tackle. The student's coach called Stoichkov's challenge "criminal". Ray Hudson, who coached United for whom Stoichkov played at the time, called it a "rash tackle". Following an investigation by MLS, Stoichkov was suspended two games and fined $2,000.[1]

Club career

Stoichkov began his career in his hometown, moving to Hebros (Harmanli) in 1984. The next year he went to CSKA Sofia. There he was involved in a fight during the final of Bulgarian Cup which resulted in his suspension. After he was brought back to football, he managed to win the European Golden Boot with CSKA by scoring 38 goals in 30 games. He then moved on to Barcelona, Parma, and finally finishing his career in Japan with Kashiwa Reysol and the United States with the Chicago Fire and D.C. United, as a coach.

Barcelona

As part of Johan Cruijff's 'Dream Team', Stoichkov helped Barcelona to the most successful era of the club, winning the Primera Division four years in a row between 1991 and 1994 and the UEFA Champions League after defeating Sampdoria in 1992. During his stay in Barcelona, he had become an idol for the club's fans, and was Barca's most popular player at the time, having earned a place in the supporters' hearts much like Johan Neeskens and Diego Maradona in the past, and later Ronaldinho.

In his first season with the club Stoichkov was suspended for two months for stomping on a referee's foot,[2] but he still netted 14 league goals and six more in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

In 1994 he was named European Footballer of the Year after leading his national side to the 1994 World Cup semifinals.

In 1997 he helped Barcelona win the Spanish Super Cup, Copa del Rey and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

National team

At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Stoichkov was awarded the Golden Boot as the joint top goal scorer of the tournament (with Oleg Salenko), with six goals. He led Bulgaria past Germany side to the semifinals, where they lost 1-2 against Italy. They subsequently lost the 3rd/4th place playoff to Sweden, 4-0.

Bulgaria finished second in the qualifying group for Euro 96 after the first place was taken by the eventual winners Germany. Stoichkov scored 10 goals for his team during the qualifiers, as Bulgaria qualified as one of the best 6 runners-up. In the first match against Germany in Sofia 3-2, Bulgaria were down 0-2 at half-time. Stoichkov equalized with two goals from penalties and Emil Kostadinov also scored for a 3-2 win. Bulgaria lost the second match in Germany 3-1.

During the finals, Bulgaria lost 1-3 in the decisive group match against a very strong France side (the future World Champions); at the same time, in the other match, Spain won 2-1 late on against Romania and so the Bulgarians went out. In that tournament Stoichkov scored 3 goals in 3 matches, and another goal against Spain was disallowed. Stoitchkov was the only player to score from a free kick (against France) in this tournament.

He was also part of the squad that was eliminated in the first round of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Bulgaria wasn't nearly as strong as in previous years, and scored only one goal in the tournament (by Kostadinov), in a 6-1 defeat by Spain.

Stoichkov retired from internationals in 1999 with 37 goals in 83 appearances. Subsequently he was the coach of the Bulgarian national team from 2004 to April 2007.

Honours

Club

Individual

In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Bulgaria by the Bulgarian Football Union as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. [3]

Coaching career

In the 2003-04 season, Stoichkov started a coaching career, serving as a forwards coach at Barça. After Bulgarian national team coach Plamen Markov resigned in the wake of the team's first-round exit from Euro 2004, the Bulgarian Football Union named him as the new national team coach on 15 July.

Stoichkov's coaching career got off to a bad start with him failing to qualify the Bulgarian national team for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He brought his bad temper from his career as a player to the coaching bench. A couple of proven players quit the team due to personal differences with Stoichkov. The most notable scandal was at the 03/09/05 game against Sweden, where he was sent-off for insulting the referee.

The biggest blow to Hristo Stoichkov as a coach of the national team of Bulgaria came on 12/10/2006, when Stiliyan Petrov, the captain of the team, announced he will not play for the team as long as Stoichkov is the coach. [4] Petrov is the third player and the second captain in two years to leave the team because of differences with Stoichkov. However, on 17/03/2007 Stiliyan Petrov announced that he had a private conversation with Stoichkov, in which they were able to work their differences out. As a result Petrov would return to the team. [5]

On April 10, 2007, the Bulgarian Football Union announced they had accepted the resignation of Hristo Stoichkov from the post of national coach. That was as a result of the poor performance of the team at the current Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, followed by widely spread criticism and debate over the qualities of the coach. He has since taken over as Manager at Celta de Vigo.[6]

References

  1. ^ Player Hurt in United Scrimmage in '03 Seeks Damages
  2. ^ The singular genius of the mad boy Hristo
  3. ^ Golden Players take centre stage
  4. ^ Petrov steps back from Bulgaria
  5. ^ Petrov returns to Bulgaria fold
  6. ^ Stoichkov opts for Celta


Preceded by European Footballer of the Year
1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe
1994
Shared with:
Oleg Salenko 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bulgaria national football team manager
2004-2007 		Succeeded by
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