Bulgaria Hoping for a Banana Kick

Novinite Insider » EDITORIAL | April 1, 2005, Friday // 00:00
Bulgaria Hoping for a Banana Kick Bulgarians are now hungry for points after being defeated by Sweden and ending in a draw with Hungary. The entire nation is looking up to June 4 when the team will host yet another crucial match against the leader Croatia. Photo by G.Kostadinova (SNA)

By Nadya Dimitrova

Entire Bulgaria spent last evening in front of the TV set hoping to get a boost of its morale, but instead it received another harsh kick....

We were all keeping our fingers crossed hoping to reach the desired football victory against Hungary, and we were really close, just a few minutes away. But, as usual, things have their natural way of going.

Scores of missed opportunities by the Bulgarian team, and few goal chances taken by the Hungarians. Sofia streets remained silent after the last-gasp goal from Hungarian substitute Peter Rajczi, whereas a few minutes before that people were getting ready to storm the central boulevards with flags, sirens and songs.

Is it that we are chased by bad luck or is it that we are not fit enough for the World Cup? Many questions were asked and most of them are still unanswered, but the most important one remains "Is Bulgaria ready for the World Cup? Are we ready for the big league?"

Yes, the footballers are giving their best on the field, but I guess it's just not enough for the world football class we are aiming at.

The last two failures of the Bulgarian team were explained with the simple words: "It's like that in football", but if I may say, that is not enough for the millions of fans in the country. Their hopes are now fading away, though the April 1st joke of a Croatian new site lit up a sparkle of hope across the country.

Bulgaria's media boomed with the news that FIFA would not allow Croatia to take part in the World Cup unless the country handed over a war crime suspect. That of course appeared to be the strange sense of humor of the team of the news site, though it caused a kind of hysteria across Bulgaria.

Hopes of regaining the fame and glory of the US' 94 Bulgarian football generation are slowly being replaced by hope that the national team will at least retreat from the qualifying stage with dignity.

Now we are all hoping for the ball to miraculously change angle at the end of its flight and to get the desired banana kick so that we could land in the World Cup finals creating the amazing 'banana" shots that would thrill the Bulgarian spectators.

Bulgarians are now hungry for points after conceding the last-gasp equalizer in their 1-1 draw with Hungary. The entire nation is looking up to June 4 when the team will host yet another crucial match against the leader in the group Croatia.

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