Bulgaria v Denmark - PREVIEW
Bulgaria need spirit of '94 against Denmark
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| Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov plays with the ball during a team's training session at Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, 13 June 2004, a day before their match against Sweden. Bulgaria plays in the group C of the Euro 2004 with Denmark and Italy and Sweden. AFP PHOTO DIMITAR DILKOFF |
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| Bulgarian players (RtoL) midfielders Stilian Petrov and Gueorgui Peev and striker Mattias Jonson react after losing against Sweden 5-0, 14 June 2004 during their opening match of the European Nations football championships at the Jose de Alvalade stadium in Lisbon. Sweden and Bulgaria are competing in Group C with Italy and Denmark. |
Bulgaria approach Friday's Group C clash against Denmark chastened after their 5-0 humiliation by Sweden and hoping to kickstart their Euro 2004 campaign by drawing on their experience at the 1994 World Cup.
Striker Dimitar Berbatov told AFP: "We were beaten 3-0 by Nigeria in our first match at the '94 World Cup, and then made it through to the last four. We'll just have to do the same thing again!"
"I saw Denmark's game, they're very good and should've won (in their 0-0 tie with Italy)."said Berbatov.
The Bayer Leverkusen attacker disclosed the team had held a soul-searching session to try and determine what precisely went wrong in Guimareas to produce such a wretched scoreline.
"We all sat down and discussed in turn our faults, the mistakes we made in that awful match, and our strengths. But the mood is good - we're all united. If you believe in yourselves you have a chance, and we believe in ourselves."
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| Danish midfielder Jesper Gronkjar, whose mother passed away last week, practices during a training session at the Le Meridien Golf and Country Club in Portimao on the Algarve coast in Portugal 15 June 2004 where they have their base during the Euro2004. |
Denmark have been boosted by the return of Chelsea's Jesper Gronkjaer, who has rejoined the team after the death of his mother.
Coach Morten Olsen now has a full squad to pick from as Everton midfielder Thomas Graveson is also back in the frame after being banned for the Italy match.
Olsen said it would be foolhardy to read too much into the extravagant scoreline in Bulgaria's opener.
He reasoned: "It did not give a fair picture of the game - far from it. The Bulgarians actually dominated the match for the first hour, and Sweden were lucky to be leading 1-0 at half-time.
"Not until Sweden scored two goals in a minute did the Bulgarian team collapse. Therefore I expect a difficult game against opponents who have to win, and who play very much like ourselves, with a 4-3-3 formation."
Teams
Bulgaria: Zdravko Zdravkov, Vladimir Ivanov, Rossen Kirilov, Ilian Stoyanov, Ivailo Petkov, Georgi Peev, Stilian Petrov (capt), Marian Hristov, Martin Petrov, Zoran Jankovich, Dimitar Berbatov
Coach: Plamen Markov
Denmark: Thomas Sorensen; Thomas Helveg, Martin Laursen, Rene Henriksen (capt), Niclas Jensen; Dennis Rommedahl, Daniel Jensen, Thomas Gravesen, Martin Jorgensen; Jon Dahl Tomasson, Ebbe Sand
Coach: Morten Olsen
Referee: Lucilio Batista (POR)