A thriller at the Vasil Levski Stadium!

We rarely see something like this in the international qualifying games for the World Cup. In a breathtaking match, Bulgaria beat Luxembourg 4-3 at home.

To begin with, there are no players like Hristo Stoichkov, Krasimir Balakov and Yordan Lechkov, who were part from the golden generation of the Bulgarian football (4th place at the World Cup 1994). That’s why the Bulgarians have such problems now against teams like Luxembourg. They just don’t have enough classy players.

But, we mustn’t underestimate Luxembourg, who scored 3 away goals for the first time in their history! They looked really good on the pitch and showed a great discipline against the favourites in the game.

The first half started with an early goal, scored by Dimitar Rangelov, after a shot from a long distance. And nobody then expected something like this to happen. Nothing interesting until the end of the first half – 1-0. A few minutes after the break, Joachim equalized after a big error in the Bulgarian defence. Just a couple of minutes later, Joachim shocked the home team again – 1-2!

The joy of the Luxembourg team lasted only 3 minutes, when Marcelinho found the net for Bulgaria after a corner kick. It looked like the home team couldn’t win the three points until the 80th minute, when Ivelin Popov of Spartak Moscow converted a free-kick into a goal – 3-2!

And it can’t be even more dramatic – in the first minute of the added time, the 18-year-old Florian Bohnert equalized, scoring his first ever international goal in his second appearance! The teenager took advantage of his speed and scored with a great volley – 3-3!

And when it looked like it will be a draw, the substitute player Aleksandar Tonev scored after a great long-distance shot, just a few seconds after the equalizing goal. So, Bulgaria took the 3 points in their first qualifying game and the situation in the group is really interesting, as Belarus and France finished with a 0-0 draw, while Sweden and Netherlands also recorded a draw (1-1).