Hristo Stoichkov

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Hristo Stoichkov
Hristo Stoitchkov © Unknown
Personal information
Full name Hristo Stoichkov
Date of birth February 8, 1966 (age 41)
Place of birth    Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Height 1.78 m
Nickname The Dagger
Playing position Manager
(former Striker)
Club information
Current club Bulgaria
Youth clubs
1976–83
1983
1983–84		 Maritsa
Yuri Gagarin
Hebros
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1984–90
1990–95
1995–96
1996–98
1998
1998
1998–99
2000–02
2003		 CSKA Sofia
Barcelona
Parma
Barcelona
Al-Nasr
CSKA Sofia
Kashiwa Reysol
Chicago Fire
D.C. United
Total		 119 0(81)
151 0(76)
023 00(5)
024 00(7)
004 00(1)
004 00(1)
028 0(13)
051 0(17)
021 00(5)
425 (206)   
National team2
1987–99 Bulgaria 083 0(37)
Teams managed
2004–present Bulgaria

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 09:37, 6 March 2007 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 09:37, 6 March 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgarian: Христо Стоичков) (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 strong 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.

Contents

[edit] Playing style

Stoitchkov 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 emphatically 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 Stoitchkov'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, Stoitchkov was suspended two games and fined $2,000.[1]

[edit] 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 the brutal 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. 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.

[edit] 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) at six goals as he led Bulgaria to the semifinals, where they lost 1-2 against Italy. At the end of that tournament, Bulgaria got an historical 4° final place.

He played also at Euro 96. Some [Who?] argue that at that championship, the Bulgarians' strength was comparable to 1994, but bad luck stopped them. Bulgaria lost 1-3 the last decisive group stage match against a very strong France (future World Champion in '98); at the same time, in the other match, Spain won 2-1 in the last minutes against a already eliminated Romania and so the Bulgarians went out. In that tournament he scored 3 goals in 3 matches, and another goal by Stoichkov against Spain was cancelled (unjustly, as some Bulgarians felt). 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 as strong as the previous years.

Stoichkov ended his international career with 37 goals in 83 appearances. Now he is the coach of the Bulgarian national team. He took part, in a Gary Lineker's Tv Series of 1998 called "Golden Boots" [[1]], with other football celebrities.

[edit] 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. [2]

Preceded by
Roberto Baggio		 European Footballer of the Year
1994		 Succeeded by
George Weah
Preceded by
Salvatore Schillaci		 FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe
1994
Shared with:
Oleg Salenko		 Succeeded by
Davor Šuker

[edit] 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. His first couple of seasons will be remembered with several scandals. 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 [3]. 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 conversaion with Stoichkov, in which they were able to work their differences out. As a result Petrov would return to the team [4].

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/26/AR2007022601339_pf.html Player Hurt in United Scrimmage in '03 Seeks Damages

[edit] External links


Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place Flag of Bulgaria

1 Mikhailov | 2 Kremenliev | 3 Ivanov | 4 Tsvetanov | 5 Houbchev | 6 Yankov | 7 Kostadinov | 8 Stoichkov | 9 Letchkov | 10 Sirakov | 11 Borimirov | 12 Nikolov | 13 Yordanov | 14 Guentchev | 15 Iliev | 16 Kiriakov | 17 Mihtarski | 18 Aleksandrov | 19 Georgiev | 20 Balakov | 21 Yotov | 22 Andonov | Coach: Penev
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Flag of Bulgaria

1 Zdravkov | 2 Kishishev | 3 T. Ivanov | 4 I. Petkov | 5 Yordanov | 6 Yankov | 7 Kostadinov | 8 Stoichkov | 9 Penev | 10 Balakov | 11 Iliev | 12 Mikhailov | 13 Ginchev | 14 Hristov | 15 Zafirov | 16 Nankov | 17 Stoilov | 18 Borimirov | 19 Bachev | 20 G. Ivanov | 21 Kirilov | 22 M. Petkov | Coach: Bonev
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