Hristo Stoichkov

Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov (Bulgarian: Христо Стоичков Стоичков), sometimes Stoitchkov; born 8 February 1966 in Plovdiv) is a retired Bulgarian footballer. He is regarded as one of the best footballers of his generation^[1] and the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time.^[2][3] Nicknamed The Dagger (Камата), The Dog (Кучето), The Modern Left (Модерния ляв). At Barcelona he earned the Spanish nickname 'El Pistolero' which translates to 'the gunslinger'. He was a member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth at the 1994 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.

Club career

Stoichkov began his career in his hometown, moving to Hebros in 1984. The next year he went to CSKA Sofia. There, he was involved in a fight during the final of the 1985 Bulgarian Cup which resulted in an original lifelong ban, which was eventually reduced to a month suspension.^[4] 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 FC Barcelona, where he was part of Johan Cruyff's 'Dream Team', Stoichkov helped Barcelona to one of the most successful eras of the club, winning the Primera Division four years in a row between 1991 and 1994 and the European Cup after defeating Sampdoria in 1992. During his stay in Barcelona, he had become an idol for the club's fans, and was Barça'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. In Barcelona Stoichkov played in tandem with Romário.

In his first season with the club Stoichkov was suspended for two months for stomping on a referee's foot,^[5] but he still netted 14 league goals and six more in the Cup Winners' Cup. Stoichkov then had short spells with Parma, Al-Nassr, and finally finishing his career in Japan with Kashiwa Reysol and the United States with the Chicago Fire and D.C. United.

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

In 2003, Sam Allardyce, the then manager of Bolton Wanderers Fc, made an ambitious bid to lure Stoichkov out or retirement with a reported $40,000 a week salary. The bid proved unsuccessful

International career

At the 1994 World Cup, Stoichkov was awarded the World Cup Golden Boot as the joint top goal scorer of the tournament (with Oleg Salenko), with six goals, as well as earning the Bronze Ball award. He led Bulgaria past Germany to the semi-finals, where they lost 2–1 to Italy. They subsequently lost the third place play-off to Sweden, 4–0.

Bulgaria finished second in the qualifying group for Euro 1996 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, Bulgaria were 2–0 down 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 3–1 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 for offside, though action replays show that he was actually on-side. 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 World Cup. Bulgaria was not nearly as strong as in previous years, earning only one point in a 0–0 draw against Paraguay and scoring only one goal through Kostadinov in a 6–1 defeat by Spain in the so-called "Group of Death".

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.

Style of play

Stoichkov played as a left winger who 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 as well as being among the best crossers in the world at his prime. 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. In 2006, he was sued by a former American University college student whose leg he broke in a violent tackle during a match against D.C. United in 2003. The case was settled out of court in 2007 for undisclosed financial terms.^[6] The student's coach called Stoichkov's challenge "criminal". Ray Hudson, who coached D.C. 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.^[7]

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. 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 on 5 September 2003, in a game against Sweden, where he was sent-off for insulting the referee.

The biggest blow to Stoichkov as a coach of the national team of Bulgaria came on 12 October 2006, when Stiliyan Petrov, the captain of the team, announced he would not play for Bulgaria as long as Stoichkov was manager.^[8] Petrov is the third player and the second captain in two years to leave the team because of differences with Stoichkov. However, on 17 March 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.^[9]

On 10 April 2007, the Bulgarian Football Union announced they had accepted the resignation of Stoichkov from the post of national coach. That was as a result of the poor performance of the team at the ongoing Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, followed by widely spread criticism and debate over the qualities of the coach. The specific game, which led to increased pressure on Stoichkov, was the 0–0 home draw with Albania.(despite the fact that the Bulgarians generally controlled the game and hit the post twice). He had a short disappointing stint as manager at Celta Vigo, for which he was sacked following the team's slump that took them to the lower reaches of the Spanish Second Division. On 8 October 2007, he was replaced by ex-Real Madrid manager Juan Ramón López Caro. On 12 March 2009, Stoichkov visited the Manchester City training ground after requesting a visit.^[10]

On 14 May 2009, Iranian club Abu Moslem reported the signing of Stoichkov as coach.^[11] However Stoichkov then changed his mind due to the tense political situation in Iran, instead opting to move to Mamelodi Sundowns, where he replaced Henri Michel on 29 June 2009.^[12] On 16 March 2010 he quit Mamelodi Sundowns, with the former South African national team manager Trott Moloto named caretaker until a full-time replacement is found.^[13]

In 2011, Vietnam Football Federation invvited him to become the first Bulgarian head coach of Vietnam national football team.

As of the 2011–12 season he works as an advisor at Russian team FC Rostov.

Career statistics

^[14]

Honours

CSKA Sofia

• Bulgarian League: 3

1987, 1989, 1990

• Bulgarian Cup: 4

1985, 1987, 1988, 1989

• Bulgarian Supercup: 1

1989

Barcelona

• Spanish League: 5

1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98

• Spanish Super Cup: 3

1992, 1994, 1996

• European Cup (now called: Champions League): 1

1991–92, Runner-Up 1993–94

• European Super Cup: 2

1992, 1997

• Copa del Rey: 1

1996–97

• European Cup Winners' Cup: 1

1996–97

Al-Nassr

• Asian Cup Winners Cup: 1

1998

Chicago Fire

• U.S. Open Cup: 1

2000

Individual

• Bulgarian League: 2

Top Scorer 1989, 1990

• European Golden Boot

1989

• Cup Winners' Cup Top Scorer

1989

• Onze d'Or

1992

• European Footballer of the Year

1994

• World Cup Golden Shoe – Top scorer

1994

• IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year
  • 1994
• World Cup All-Star Team

1994

• Don Balón Award for Best Foreign Player in La Liga

1994

• UEFA Euro All-Star Team

1996

• Golden Foot "All time" legends award

1999

• World Soccers 100 Greatest Players of the 20th Century

2007

• FIFA 100

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.^[15]

Mamelodi Sundowns

• Premier Soccer League: 1

Coach of the Month: December 2009^[16]

References

External links

• Official website
• Hristo Stoichkov on BarcaMania.com
• Autobiography
• Stoichkov Profile, stats and news
• A photo album dedicated to Hristo Stoichkov
• UEFA.com – Golden Player of Bulgaria