Tears of an icon
Bulgarian legend Hristo Stoichkov reveals how racist fans made him cry in despair for the country he loves
ONCE the greatest player in the world, he is brought low, his head falls, his hands are clasped between his knees. He cries. Television was once a faithful messenger for Hristo Stoichkov, spreading images of his glory around the world.
On a dismal night last month, it instead captured him at his most vulnerable.
The Vasil Levski stadium in Sofia had witnessed a Euro 2020 qualifier between England and Bulgaria that had to be stopped twice because of racist chanting towards Tyrone Mings, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling.
Stoichkov, analysing the match for a Spanish-speaking TV station in Miami, was animated in his condemnation, calling for long bans and stadium closures. He then was lost for words and consumed by emotion.
‘I am very happy now because I am in my Miami,’ he says over the telephone, with humour in his voice.
‘But I felt very, very bad on that night. I cried because I had to.’
Stoichkov, who played for Bulgaria 83 times, leading them to a World Cup semi-final in 1994, adds: ‘My country is a good country. This is not how it is for us. I played in this stadium many times and I have never heard this. Never, never, ever.
‘This problem did not exist. This is because of bull **** people. Bulgarian people are very quiet, very respectful. We have great respect for other peoples’ country and great respect when we are in other peoples’ country, too. This is not us.’
The match witnessed scenes of Nazi salutes to a regular soundtrack of monkey noises. Stoichkov, now 53, goes on: ‘The people who were doing this are obviously very stupid.
‘There are many people who come to Bulgaria in modern times and they may be part of the problem. I cannot elaborate on that but I can say this never existed in my day.
‘This is why I am very angry. I am proud of my country, very proud to play for it and represent it. There has been a lot of talk about the incidents, perhaps too much. We need action.’
UEFA fined the Bulgarian federation £65,000 and ordered the country to play two matches behind closed doors, one of them suspended. Both the president of the Bulgaria Football Union, Borislav Mihaylov, and manager Krasimir Balakov resigned.
Stoichkov (right) apologised personally to Sterling by phone. He says: ‘I have a very good relationship with Txiki (Begiristain, director of football at Manchester (City).’ The pair played together in Barcelona’s Dream Team of the 1990s and Begiristain put his former colleague in touch with the England forward. The character once dubbed The Gunslinger because of his prolific scoring, Stoichkov had the capacity to wound off the pitch, too. In the aftermath of his tears, it was pointed out that Marcel Desailly had accused him of racist comments during a Bulgaria v France match in 1996. Stoichkov denied this, admitting that he made comments to his opponents but only ‘normal’ ones.
He is capable of falling out and then reconciling almost immediately.
An altercation in 2006 with Stiliyan Petrov, when Stoichkov was manager of the national team and the Celtic midfielder was his captain, seemed to have long-standing consequences.
Petrov said he would never play for the national team with Stoichkov as manager.
However, both made up quickly with Petrov returning and Stoichkov says: ‘Not only was he a great player but he is a great man.’
Stoichkov played for the first time in Scotland only last year because Petrov had selected him for a match for cancer charities between Celtic and Liverpool greats.
‘If Stiliyan calls, then I come,’ he says. ‘I loved it, too. I always loved playing and in front of crowds. Glasgow is a great football city.’
He, of course, played for one of the greatest teams in history. The Johan Cruyff Barcelona of the early 1990s won four successive La Ligas and the club’s first European Cup in 1992.
Stoichkov was one of its more prominent personalities with his friend and strike partner Romario. ‘Every Saturday or Sunday was a big party,’ he says.
‘Romario was one of the great No 9s.’ He was also one of the great party goers, too, and Stoichkov was cast in the role of making sure the diminutive forward made training after celebrating the almost inevitable victories.
It was, perhaps, inevitable that Stoichkov and Cruyff fell out. They shared the same strength of character, the same certainty in their individual causes.
‘It is either him or me,’ the Bulgarian said after one spat.
Blessedly for Barcelona, and for football, they stayed united and the Dream Team evolved.
The depth of Stoichkov’s respect and affection for the Dutchman is profound. ‘He was the best. The best coach. The best player. I thank him very much for everything. I will never forget him,’ he says of the football revolutionary who died three years ago.
Stoichkov played for Barcelona in two spells, plus Parma and for clubs in Japan, the USA and Saudi Arabia, but his debt to Cruyff begins with the Dutchman bringing him from CSKA Sofia to Barcelona in 1990.
This is where Stoichkov blossomed with his extraordinary skill being complemented by other great players such as Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mari Bakero.
It is also where he had to grow up after leaving a Communist Bulgaria for the barely-restrained
The people who were doing this are obviously very stupid. This is not how it is for us
hedonism of Barcelona. ‘I was created to play football,’ he says.
But his years at Barcelona and his spell at the 1994 World Cup formed his masterpieces.
Legend has it that he played as a 12-year-old for Maritsa Plovdiv in the Bulgarian second division before moving to Hebros Harmani and then CSKA Sofia.
Stoichkov does not deny his years as a prodigy, but is deeply reluctant to speak about himself as a player.
‘I was young,’ is the extent of his estimate of his precociousness.
Asked about winning the Ballon d’Or in 1994 or his greatest moment on the pitch, he says: ‘I do not speak of this.
‘I do not say this is when I scored this goal or I beat this player or I hit a free-kick. There were always others.
‘I just thank my team-mates, my coaches, the medical people for giving me the chance to play. I loved to play football. But this is the past.’
So what about the future? Bulgaria could play Scotland in the play-off semi-finals for a slot at the European Championships next year. If Stoichkov had tears for the England performance, he has fears for any trip to Hampden.
‘We are not a good team,’ he says. ‘This makes me sad to say it, but it is true. If you look at the past we had players who were big personalities in other countries.’
He lists as Dimitar Berbatov in England, Krasimir Balakov in Germany, Martin Petrov in England and Germany, Trifon Ivanov in Spain and Austria, and Petrov in Scotland and England as just some of the players who took a Bulgarian football education and graduated at the highest level.
‘We had very good players but not now,’ he says. ‘The national team is in a difficult place but football in Bulgaria is in a difficult place, too. There are no very good players in Bulgarian soccer. There are no strong domestic teams, either. We once had a path from Bulgaria to the top leagues. Now there is nothing.’
This stark assessment is reinforced with a glance at the latest squad under Georgi Dermendzhiev. There is no player who earns his living in the top five leagues in Europe.
‘I do not know much about the Scottish team but I know you have players with big clubs,’ he says.
So how has that well of Bulgarian greatness dried up? ‘I have my ideas,’ he says. But I do not know precisely. There has been long-term failure but I cannot say why. After all, I am in Miami.’
He is far from the darkness of the Vasil Levski stadium but the sunny parting shot cannot disguise the bleakness he feels over the state of the game he adores in the nation he loves.