© EuroFootball.com
The captain of the Bulgarian national team, Stiliyan Petrov, unexpectedly announced his withdrawal from the team coached by Hristo Stoichkov after the team's narrow victory over Luxembourg in the 2008 European Championship qualifiers on Wednesday.
"I do not want to play for the national team coached by Hristo Stoichkov. I understand that this may come as a surprise to the Bulgarian football community, but this decision was not made impulsively. On the contrary - I gave it a lot of thought before making it," Petrov said on Thursday.
The 27-year-old Bulgarian, who ended his career at Scottish club Celtic in August and moved to English side Aston Villa, played 66 matches for his country's national team and scored seven goals. Initially, he had planned to announce his decision to withdraw on Saturday but decided to "put an end to speculations" and reveal the reasons on Thursday.
Meanwhile, former Bulgarian football legend and current national team strategist Hristo Stoichkov expressed hope that Petrov might change his mind: "I hope Stiliyan will reconsider. We need to give it a few days, as we will have enough time to discuss this calmly. Let's not forget that I myself withdrew from the national team and later returned to help."
Petrov's teammate at the Bulgarian national team, Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov, said the news came "like a bolt from the blue" and also had hopes for a change: "His absence will be felt in the team. We still hope he will change his mind, but the final decision is up to him."
Stoichkov took over as coach of the Bulgarian national team in July 2004, but he failed to lead the team to the 2006 World Cup. In the current European Championship qualification cycle, Bulgaria is in second place in Group G with two wins and two draws, trailing only behind leader Netherlands.
