Spain 6 - 1 Bulgaria
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Bulgaria has poor results at WC'98 so far. The semifinalists from USA 1994
have not won a game yet. Moreover, they are still to score a goal.
However, the group's top seed Spain has also lost to Nigeria and failed
to win against the Group D outsiders Paraguay. That leaves Bulgaria with
a chance, at least in theory, to qualify. However, the team will have to beat
Spain and in the other game the winner in Group D Nigeria should not lose to
Paraguay.
- 6 min.
- Fernando Hierro scored the first goal for Spain from a Penalty Kick. Four
minutes earlier Paraguay scored their first goal against Nigeria.
- 12 min.
- Bulgaria exerts some pressure. In the other game in Group D, Nigeria
equalized against Paraguay: 1:1.
- 19 min.
- Luis Enrique scored the second goal for Spain off the pass of Etceberria.
- 29 min.
- Luboslav Penev came in to substitute Nankov.
- 45+2 min.
- Luboslav Penev argued for a penalty against Spain, but got a yellow
card instead. The stats for the first half show an overall advantage for
Spain, but not as large as the score.
- 46 min.
- Ilian Iliev came in to substitute for Stoichkov. Hristo Stoichkov will
likely finish his participation in WC'98 without a goal, after scoring the most
goals at WC'94.
- 53 min.
- Francisco Morientes pretty much put the game on ice after scoring
the third goal against Bulgaria. Luis Enrique assisted.
- 56 min.
- Emil Kostadinov responded with a goal for Bulgaria off the pass of
Borimirov.
- 60 min.
- Marian Hristov came in for Krassimir Balakov. Paraguay scored a second
goal and leads Nigeria 1:2 despite the overall advantage for Nigerians.
- 66 min.
- A number of shots by Bulgarian players (Borimirov, Kostadinov) were
either saved or missed the Spanish goal. The game is active and attractive,
probably, the most attractive in the championship so far, with a lot of scoring
opportunities for both teams.
- 81 min.
- Francisco Morientes does it again after a pass by Raul: 4:1.
- 86 min.
- Jose Cardozo scores another one for Paraguay against Nigeria: 3:1.
This leaves both Bulgaria and Spain without any chance of qualifying
for the next round.
- 88 min.
- The shootout continues with Bulgaria on the losing side. Kiko scores
for Spain after a corner kick by Fernando Hierro.
- 90+4 min.
- Kiko finishes off the participation of Spain at WC'98 by scoring a sixth
goal against Bulgaria in the stoppage time.
Spain becomes the first top-seeded
team which does not qualify for the second round since 1974. Group D truly
leaves up to its nickname Group of Death. Bulgaria finishes last without a
win and with just one goal scored.
Paraguay qualifies for the second round and
will play France after beating the Nigerian substitutes 3:1. The best Nigerian
players are getting some rest before the second-round match against Denmark.
They won the qualifiers in Group D in advance of their team's last game.
Links
Located on the Official
World Cup '98 Site, this page has links to related news stories from
Agence France-Presse (AFP)
The page from the CNN/Sports Illustrated World Cup site
starts with a headline:
"Bulgaria's Stoichkov fined for truancy".
Soccernet points to the dramatic conclusion in the Group of Death:
Spain face its moment of truth with Bulgaria
The Reuters news reports related to the Bulgarian football team include:
ESPN Sportszone also provides some
news stories from Reuters.
The preview for the Bulgaria - Spain game points that many of the
Bulgarian players have played or still are playing for Spanish teams:
Familiar Faces
The page from Yahoo! has more news stories (mostly, from AP and AFP):
The page has some original news stories by BBC:
- Bulgaria v Spain:
Having failed to live up to their pre-tournament billing Spain find themselves
with one last chance as they take on Bulgaria in Lens on Wednesday.
- More information related to Bulgaria on this server available
here.
- More news about Bulgaria available here.
