FRANCE 98 – Match Summary n°7

Montpellier, 12 June, 14 h 30

A 10-man Bulgarian side held off Paraguay in the dying minutes to come away with a goalless draw in their World Cup opener here on Friday.

Coach Hristo Bonev was fuming after his midfield star Anatoli Nankov had the dubious distinction of becoming the first player to be sent off in this World Cup but he was even more angry that his side had been denied a decisive penalty. ” It was a clear as day, “ he said referring to the fourth minute incident when striker Hristo Stoichkov took a tumble in the penalty area. Saudi referee Adbul Rahman Al-Zeid disagreed and dismissed Stoichkov’s petulant appeal for a spotkick after the tackle by Pedro Sarabia. ” The referee missed a penalty for us in the first half and that affected the game, “ stormed Bonev.

But the Saudi referee had no hesitation in sending Nankov off under FIFA’s tough new clampdown on tackles from behind when he scythed down Juan Carlos Yegros 10 minutes from the end.

For Paraguay, the best chance of the game fell to their eccentric goalkeeper and captain, Jose Luis Chilavert. Chilavert, 32, likes to take shots at the opposing goal whenever he gets a chance and came very close with a second-half free-kick. His dipping shot over the wall very nearly caught his opposite number Zdravko Zdravkov out but the 27-year-old managed to palm it over the bar. ” I thought the free-kick had gone in-it was so close, “ he said. No goalkeeper has scored in a match in a World Cup finals. ” What a moment that would have been, “ he added.

Bulgaria should have put the game out of reach in the first half when, led by striker Stoichkov, the star in USA 94 when they reached the semi-finals, tormented the South American defence.

Paraguay’s Brazilian coach Paulo Cesar Carpegiani, who led the side to second place behind Argentina in the South American qualifying zone, said he was pleased with his team’s commitment, but disappointed with the result. ” I thought we played quite well but we lacked someone to put their foot on the ball in the first half, when we made tactical mistakes.” We calmed things down and closed down the flanks. But although we got better, the final pass was missing. ” I think it was an unfair result. I thought we deserved to win. “

But for the opening 45 minutes it was nearly all Bulgaria with Nankov causing all sorts of problems by his penetrating runs up the right wing. Midfielder Ilian Iliev was finding gaps in the creaky Paraguay defence, but age was keeping  Bulgaria from cashing in. Bulgaria’s triple strike force of Stoichkov, Ivaylo Iordanov and Luboslav Penev are all over 30 and it showed – the three of them being one step too slow to get onto Iliev’s passes.

Said Bonev, ” We are very disappointed about this result because we were the better side. ” That was very obvious during the first half when we did whatever we wanted except scoring goals. ” We created a lot of chances but didn’t finish them off, that’s all. “

The 32-year-old Stoichkov showed that while he might be a fraction slower than four years ago, he had lost none of his fiery temperament. Stoichkov was lucky to get away with only a yellow card in injury time in the first-half when he hacked down Miguel Benitez from behind.

The chance of the match for Bulgaria came when Stoichkov pounced on a Paraguay defensive blunder. With the ball bobbling free just outside the Paraguay area, the former Barcelona star fired in a shot that hit the base of the post with Chilavert well beaten. Paraguay’s lacklustre attack sprung to life in the second half as the weary Bulgarians found age catching up with them.

They had several chances in the dying moments but the Bulgarian defence managed to hold on to take a point.