The Bulgarian under-17 national team played two friendly games against Serbia U17 as part of their preparations for the UERO 2016 Qualifying round this mounth.

Bulgaria recorded a draw and a loss.

The first game was played in Jagodina and finished 3:3. Viktorio Pavlov`s players showed confidence, character, strong collective and will to win. They pressed the opponent and played aggressively and offensively in most of the time. They were constantly trying to create goalscoring opportunities and managed to score three beautiful goals.

Viktorio Pavlovs’s side made a fantastic start. Levski`s forward Stanislav Ivanov netted the ball in the 17th minute. 

But Serbia fought well to work their way back into the game and took the lead with goals by Yovelic and Dzurlek.

Stanislav Ivanov levelled things up 14 minutes after the re-start.

Less than six minutes later, Ilic scored to put the hosts firmly in charge. But that wasn`t all. The fearlessness young lions fought to the end and were rewarded for their persistence too, as Serbia’s resilience was broken in the final minutes of the game when Atanas Kabov scored a fantastic goal from the left side and made it 3:3.

Bulgaria Under-17s: 1. Dimitar Sheytanov, 21. Andrea Hristov, 5. Aleksander Bastunov (56 - Svetoslav Petrov), 4. Georgi Kostov, 3. Borislav Vakadivnov, 20. Kiril Nikolov (66 - Kaloyan Krastrev), 10. Vladislav Zhikov, 8. Ivan Tilev (72 - Angel Angelov), 14. Dimitar Kostadinov, 11. Atanas Kabov, 19. Stanislav Ivanov

The second game was played on February 27th in Paracin and ended with a 2:0 win for Serbia. Two goals in both halfs proved enough for the Serbs against Viktorio Pavlovs’s side. The first part finished with a 1:0 lead for the hosts despite Bulgaria`s domination on the pitch. Milosh Milanovic opened the scoring after a controversial penalty in the 22nd minute.

Till the end of the first half the “young lions” had superior ball possession. They were aggressive enough and managed to create 2-3 good opportunities, but the lack of luck and concentration prevented Bulgaria from getting on the scoreboard as Stanislav Ivanov, Atanas Kabov and Kaloyan Krastev missed the target.

During the second part young lions head coach Viktorio Pavlov made a number of changes because of the accumulated fatigue in some players and by the desire to test and use all of his players as he gears them up for their Euro 2016 qualifiers in March.

Bulgaria could have equalized, but Stanislav Ivanov and Dimitar Kostadiov missed the target.

Despite all efforts, the team made too many mistakes and was outplayed physically. The goalie Petar Petrov saved a couple of shots, but he was helpless in the 80th minute when Igor Maksimovic netted the ball and shaped the final outcome.  

Bulgaria Under-17s: 12. Petar Petrov, 3. Borislav Vakadinov, 5. Aleksander Bastunov (41 - Petko Hristov), 20. Kiril Nikolov (67 - Georgi Kostov), 8. Ivan Tilev (69 - Tsvetoslav Petrov), 10. Vladislav Zhikov, 11. Atanas Kabov, 14. Dimitar Kostadinov (69 - Angel Angelov), 17. Rusi Chernakov (65 - Nicola Gavov), 9. Kaloyan Krastev (54 - Ivan Mitrev), 19. Stanislav Ivanov – captain

The games were part of the team`s preparations for the UERO 2016 Elite round this month. Bulgaria is in Group 4 and will face Slovakia, Germany and the Netherlands on 24th, 26th and 29th of March. Germany is host of the mini-tournament.

Department "Public Relations and Media"