Time for control: Bulgaria has been crushing Cyprus over the years
Our football nationals come out against Cyprus in control. It’s the match Wednesday night in Larnaca. The current state of the rivals is almost identical.
Cyprus has never participated in either the World Cup or the European Championship. In the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, the team remains fifth in its group, ahead of only Malta, and by the main difference. In addition, the Cypriots finished last in League B of the Nations League and were relegated to the lower tier of the tournament. At the head of their selection is the Georgian specialist Timur Ketsbaya, but he is under huge pressure due to these poor results and today the home team, supported by their fans, will want a positive result.
Bulgaria again remained far from ranking at a major forum. Now the beginning of the “lions” is again a foreigner – Mladen Krastaich. It is the following arrival that minimal movement in a positive direction is noticed. However, we are far from the criteria for a strong and competitive team for the classification of SP or EP. In the upcoming match, the team will not be looking for a third consecutive victory after the successes in the League of Nations over Gibraltar at home with 5:1 and in the away game of North Macedonia with 1:0. We finished second with them and saved ourselves from being in the company of the football midgets in the draw for Euro 2024.
“I told the players that they have to go out and play for their country with energy and heart like they did in the Nations League. There will be good times and bad times for sure, I want to see a desire to play. I want everyone who is invited here to a camp to play for the national team. This is our second time, we have been together for ten days. Some play in the country, others – in the Bulgarian championship. It is clear that we can do a lot, but we have been together for a very short time,” he said on the eve at the match Krstaich.
Bulgaria has a big advantage over Cyprus in the official matches played – in 1972 – 1973 in World Qualifications – 4:0 as a guest and 2:0 on our ground. In 1996 – 1997 again in SC – 3:1 for the “lions” in Limassol and 4:1 in Sofia. In 2009 in the SC – the home side won alternately – 2:0 for Bulgaria and 4:1 for the “dragons” on the field in Larnaca. In 2018 in the League of Nations – 2:1 for our national team in the capital and 1:1 in Nicosia.