Bulgaria Atop Group after Malta 4-1

Sports | October 13, 2004, Wednesday // 00:00
Bulgaria Atop Group after Malta 4-1 Bulgarian team (white-green-red) downed, as expected, Malta 4-1 Wednesday night in Sofia. The victory launched the unbeaten team of Hristo Stoitchkov on top of World Qualifier Group 8 with seven points. Photo by Kameliya Atanasova (Sofia News Agency)

The marvel boys of Hristo Stoitchkov placed on top of World Cup Group 8 after beating Malta 4-1 on Bulgarian soil.

After an early opening goal by Maltese Michael Nifsud (12 min) Bulgaria's striker Dimitar Berbatov made a double score, closing the first (43 min) and opening the second half (56 min) with successful strikes.

The shot that gave Bulgaria the lead was performed by Hristo Yanev in the 47th minute cemented by the unwavering strike of national team's debutant Tchavdar Yankov (87 min).

In a revolutionary scheme with two defenders and eight strikers, coach Hristo Stoitchkov cemented his ambitions to revive the national team.

Regretfully, the team's captain Stilian Petrov and Croatia-breaker Martin Petrov face to watch their playmates' decisive match against Sweden from the side, as both were flagged second yellow card since the start of World Cup qualifications.

Yanev and Valeri Bojinov missed a couple of clear scoring opportunities for Bulgaria in the initial minutes of the game.

More than 25,000 people watched the match live at Sofia's National Stadium "Vassil Levski".

Bulgaria drew 2-2 as guest of Croatia in the previous qualifier last Saturday and stands third in the group with four points. Malta bottoms the six teams in Group 8 with one point.

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