Bulgaria men's national volleyball team

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Bulgaria
Flag
Federation   Bulgarian Volleyball Federation
Website www.volleyball.bg (Bulgarian) (English)
Confederation   CEV
Head coach Martin Stoev
FIVB ranking 4 (as of 2008-01-05)
Olympic Games 6 appearances
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver 1980 Moscow Team competition
World Championships
Silver 1970 Sofia Team competition
Bronze 1949 Prague Team competition
Bronze 1952 Moscow Team competition
Bronze 1986 Paris Team competition
Bronze 2006 Japan Team competition
European Championships
Silver 1951 Paris Team competition
Bronze 1955 Bucharest Team competition
Bronze 1981 Varna Team competition
Bronze 1983 East Berlin Team competition
World Cup
Bronze 2007 Japan Team competition

The Bulgaria men's national volleyball team, controlled by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, is one of the leading volleyball teams in Europe and the world.

Its achievements include one silver medal from the World Championship (1970) and four bronze medals (1949, 1952, 1986, 2006), as well as one fourth place (1962). From the European Championship, Bulgaria has won one second place (1951) and three third (1955, 1981 and 1983) and four fourth places (1948, 1963, 1967 and 1995). Bulgaria has also won a silver medal from the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, and has a fourth place from the 1972 Olympics in Munich. The team's World Cup has won one bronze medal (2007) and one fourth place in 1969. Other achievements are the three World League fourth places (1994, 2004 and 2006).

The team's most relevant recent result was the third place in the 2006 Volleyball World Championship and the 2007 World Cup.

Contents

[edit] Bulgaria in the World League

Bulgaria national volleyball team at the 2006 Volleyball World Championship in Japan.
Bulgaria national volleyball team at the 2006 Volleyball World Championship in Japan.

Bulgaria was first invited to take part in the World League in 1994. In its debut season in the tournament the team managed to finish fourth led by players like Luboslav Ganev, Dimo Tonev, Martin Stoev, etc. In the next four editions Bulgaria took part but did not manage to tie or beat its first season performance- it came fifth in 1995, eight in 1996, sixth in 1997, and seventh in 1998. Bulgaria was then excluded from the World League until the 2003 season. It has been a constant participant ever since and among the contestants for the final phase of the tournament. Under the guidance of Milorad Kijac the new wave of players including Teodor Salparov, Danail Mihaylov, etc. mixed well with the more experienced Evgeni Ivanov, Plamen Konstantinov, Nikolay Ivanov, Vladimir Nikolov, Hristo Tsvetanov to come fifth in 2003. The next year once again under Kijac the team played some impressive games and succeeded to tie its best performance of finishing fourth. The team included more players of the Under-21 team that the previous year managed to win a medal at the World Championships such as Matey Kaziyski and Milushev. In 2005 with a new coach, Martin Stoev, the team finished fifth, followed by another tied best-ever performance- fourth in 2006, and another fifth in 2007.

[edit] Team (2007 World Cup)

Head coach: Martin Stoev

Number Name Birthdate Age (2007) Club
1 Evgeni Ivanov 3 June 1974 33 Flag of Poland Jastrzebski Wegiel SA
2 Hristo Tsvetanov 29 March 1978 29 Flag of Greece Olympiacos Piraeus
3 Andrey Zhekov 12 March 1980 27 Flag of Greece Patron Patra
4 Boyan Yordanov 12 March 1983 24 Flag of Greece Olympiacos Piraeus
5 Krasimir Gaydarski 23 February 1983 24 Flag of Greece Olympiacos Piraeus
6 Matey Kaziyski 29 September 1984 23 Flag of Italy Trentino Volley SPA
7 Nikolay Nikolov 29 July 1986 21 Flag of Bulgaria Lukoil Neftohimik
8 Ivan Stanev 7 July 1985 22 Flag of Bulgaria Lukoil Neftohimik
11 Vladimir Nikolov 3 October 1977 30 Flag of Italy Trentino Volley Spa
13 Teodor Salparov 16 August 1982 25 Flag of Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
15 Todor Aleksiev 21 April 1983 24 Flag of Italy Volley Citta di Corigliano
17 Plamen Konstantinov 14 June 1973 34 Flag of Greece Iraklis Thessaloniki

[edit] Recent team members

Name Birthdate Club
Ivan Zarev 25 June 1986 Flag of Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
Daniel Peev 11 May 1970 Flag of Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
Vladislav Aleksandrov 5 September 1983 Flag of Bulgaria Cherno More BASK
Danail Milushev 3 February 1983 Flag of France Tours VB

[edit] References