The Bulgarians fought, but collapsed against the Swiss, who defeated us and went to Qatar
Bulgaria lost 0: 4 to Switzerland in its last match of the world qualifiers. The final result in Lucerne pleased the players of Murat Yakin, who guarantee participation in next year’s World Cup, and the European champion of Italy will have to go through the sieve of the barrages. The “Lions” fought, but after the break they collapsed in front of the inspired hosts. Noah Ocaphor opened the scoring with a header in the 48th minute. In the 57th minute Ruben Vargas made 2: 0 with a shot from the left. In the 72nd minute Cedric Iten scored for 3: 0. In added time, Atalanta star Remo Froyler scored for 4: 0. The “Watchmakers” also hit two beams, and two of their goals were canceled due to an ambush.
Yasen Petrov bet on Ivan Karadzhov under the door frame. In the defense, the surprise was Momchil Tsvetanov, who started as a left back. The others in defense were Ivan Turitsov, Andrea Hristov and Kristian Dimitrov.
The pair of internal midfielders were captain Georgi Kostadinov and Ivaylo Chochev. Kirilov and Nedelev acted on the wings, and in front positions Plovdiv’s Gianni bet on Kiril Despodov and Atanas Iliev.
Before the start of the battle, the home team honored their captain Jerdan Shakiri, who recorded match number 100 with the “watchmakers'” T-shirt. The first danger in the match was in front of Vargas, who in the fourth open minute feigned Ivan Turitsov in front of the available field, but then shot over the door. In the tenth minute Vargas tried his aim again, but Ivan Karadzhov had no serious problems and caught the ball.
In the 24th minute Mario Gavranovic found himself in a shooting position in front of Karadzhov, but the central striker of Switzerland shot in the hands of the Bulgarian goalkeeper. Soon after a new shot by Ruben Vargas and again Karadzhov was perfectly placed. In the 32nd minute Atanas Iliev tried to fire on the frame of Jan Sommer from 30 meters, but failed. In the 40th minute Denis Zakaria slalomed past several of our players, but then sent the ball past the Bulgarian goal. In the 45th minute Noah Ocaphor touched a goal, but my shot stopped in the sidebar.
During the break, Yasen Petrov made two changes in his team – in place of Nasko Iliev appeared Georgi Minchev, and Dimitar Velkovski replaced Ivan Turitsov. In the 48th minute Shakiri centered from the left and Noah Ocaphor “blew up” the stands, sending the ball with his head in the net – 1: 0 for Switzerland.
In 55 minutes Shakiri gained space in the penalty area of Bulgaria, as the star of Lyon shot masterfully, but the sidebar tried again on Karadzhov. In the 57th minute our hosts scored a second goal after a breakthrough of Ruben Vargas through the zone of Velkovski and a strong shot on the wing of Augsburg – 2: 0.
In the 64th minute Mario Gavranovic rose to 3-0, as the announcer hurried to announce a goal, but a check of the situation with VAR found an ambush and the goal of the “reds” was canceled. At the same time, Ilian Iliev Jr. replaces Ivaylo Chochev. Shortly afterwards, Switzerland scored again, but again it was canceled due to the ambush. Levski star Radoslav Tsonev replaced Radi Kirilov.
The third goal for the people of Murat Yakin became a reality in the 72nd minute, when the reserve Cedric Iten beat Karadzhov – 3: 0. Greuther Furth’s central striker sent the ball into the Bulgarian goal with his head after a cross from the right.
Italy failed miserably in Belfast, going to the barrage
There was a lull for added time when Froyler found the bottom right corner of our door for 4: 0.
SWITZERLAND 4: 0 BULGARIA
1: 0 Noah Ocaphorus (48)
2: 0 Ruben Vargas (57)
3: 0 Cedric Iten (71)
4: 0 Remo Froyler (90 + 1)
Starting lineups:
SWITZERLAND: 1. Somer, 2. Mbabu, 22. Cher, 4. Fry, 3. Widmer, 8. Froyler, 6. Zakaria, 17. Vargas, 23. Shakiri, 9. Okafor, 19. Gavranovich
BULGARIA: 23. Karadzhov, 2. Turitsov, 3. A. Hristov, 5. Dimitrov, 21. Tsvetanov, 8. Nedelev, 7. Kostadinov, 18. Chochev, 10. Kirilov, 11. Despodov, 9. A. Iliev.
Photos: Vladimir Ivanov