Bulgaria Under-21

Nickname(s)	The Lions (Lavovete) (лъвовете)
Association	Bulgarian Football Union
Head coach	Ivan Kolev
Captain	Ivelin Popov
Most caps	Petar Mihtarski (51)
Top scorer	Atanas Mihaylov (31)
Home colours Away colours
First international
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Biggest win
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Biggest defeat
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UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	2 (First in 1978)
Best result	semi-finalists 1978

The Bulgaria national under-21 football team (Bulgarian: младежки национален отбор на България по футбол, mladezhki natsionalen otbor na Balgariya po futbol) is the national under-21 football team of Bulgaria and is controlled by the Bulgarian Football Union. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years.

[edit] UEFA U-23 Championship record

The Bulgaria national under-23 football team was the first ever champion in the UEFA Under-23 Challenge Cup. The team defended the title four times between June 1967 and April 1968: against East Germany, Finland, Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands before losing it to Yugoslavia in October 1968.

• 1972: semi-finalists
• 1974: quarter-finalists
• 1976: quarter-finalists

[edit] UEFA U-21 Championship record

• 1978: semi-finalists
• 1980: qualifying stage
• 1982: qualifying stage
• 1984: qualifying stage
• 1986: qualifying stage
• 1988: qualifying stage
• 1990: quarter-finalists
• 1992: qualifying stage
• 1994: qualifying stage
• 1996: qualifying stage
• 1998: qualifying stage
• 2000: qualifying stage
• 2002: qualifying stage
• 2004: qualifying stage
• 2006: qualifying stage

The Bulgarian under-21 team has also qualified for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship play-offs by dominating Qualifying Group 12 after two wins against 2006 Championship finalists Ukraine (3:0 away) and the team of Croatia (2:1 home). The Under-21s were aided by senior team stars Valeri Bojinov (Manchester City FC) and Chavdar Yankov (Hannover 96) for these matches. Other of the team's distinguished players as of 2006 include Tsvetan Genkov (FC Dynamo Moscow) and Valeri Domovchiyski (Hertha BSC).

The Bulgaria Under-21s face Belgium in the play-offs on 7 and 11 October 2006. The first match in Belgium ended in a 1-1 draw.

[edit] Current squad

[edit] Current players

As of 25 May 2009, for the friendly match against Austria.

[edit] Goalkeepers

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club GK Mario Kirev August 15, 1989 (1989-08-15) (age 20) 4 0 Juventus GK Ivan Karadzhov July 12, 1989 (1989-07-12) (age 20) 3 0 CSKA Sofia

[edit] Defenders

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club DF Vasil Bozhikov October 31, 1989 (1989-10-31) (age 20) 3 0 Minyor Pernik DF Ivan Ivanov February 25, 1988 (1988-02-25) (age 21) 10 1 CSKA Sofia DF Victor Genev October 27, 1988 (1988-10-27) (age 21) 8 3 Levski Sofia DF Kostadin Gadzhalov June 20, 1989 (1989-06-20) (age 20) 3 0 Botev Plovdiv DF Pavel Vidanov August 1, 1988 (1988-08-01) (age 21) 8 0 CSKA Sofia DF Todor Stoev August 11, 1988 (1988-08-11) (age 21) 4 0 Chavdar Etropole DF Milcho Makendzhiev October 31, 1989 (1989-10-31) (age 20) 4 0 Lokomotiv Mezdra

[edit] Midfielders

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club MF Nikolay Dyulgerov April 6, 1988 (1988-04-06) (age 21) 6 0 Slavia Sofia MF Lachezar Baltanov November 7, 1988 (1988-11-07) (age 21) 9 0 Levski Sofia MF Aleksandar Tonev (on loan from CSKA Sofia) February 2, 1990 (1990-02-02) (age 19) 0 0 OFC Sliven 2000 MF Viktor Petakov January 27, 1989 (1989-01-27) (age 20) 4 0 Lokomotiv Mezdra MF Momchil Cvetanov March 12, 1990 (1990-03-12) (age 19) 5 1 Litex MF Radoslav Dimitrov August 12, 1988 (1988-08-12) (age 21) 5 1 Slavia Sofia MF Stefan Velev May 2, 1989 (1989-05-02) (age 20) 5 1 Lokomotiv Stara Zagora MF Daniel Genov May 19, 1989 (1989-05-19) (age 20) 0 0 Kom-Minyor

[edit] Forwards

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club FW Dani Kiki January 8, 1988 (1988-01-08) (age 21) 3 0 Lokomotiv Plovdiv FW Branimir Kostadinov March 4, 1989 (1989-03-04) (age 20) 1 0 Chernomorets FW Dimitar Iliev September 25, 1988 (1988-09-25) (age 21) 7 2 Lokomotiv Plovdiv FW Spas Delev (on loan from Pirin Blagoevgrad) September 22, 1989 (1989-09-22) (age 20) 1 0 CSKA Sofia FW Aleksandar Kirov October 25, 1990 (1990-10-25) (age 19) 6 1 Levski Sofia

[edit] See also

• Bulgaria national football team
• Bulgaria national under-17 football team
• Bulgaria national under-19 football team
• European Under-21 Football Championship

[edit] References and external links

• UEFA Under-21 website, complete results archive
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, full record of U-21 and U-23 Championships