Hristo Stoichkov, one of the greatest players in
Bulgarian soccer history, has quit Japanese J-League club
Kashiwa Reysol because of a lack of motivation, a team
spokesman said Thursday. The 33-year-old striker, the joint
top scorer at the 1994 USA World Cup finals where
Bulgaria reached the semi-finals, quit the national team
on June 9 when he played in a European championship
qualifier against England in Sofia. <br>"He has since told
the club that he was no longer motivated to play,"
said the spokesman, Toshimasa Oonari. "He also hopes
to be with two children at his home in Spain, and
his father is hospitalized there." <br>Stoichkov, the
1994 European player of the year, nicknamed the Raging
Bull, moved from CSKA Sofia to the J-League team after
playing in the World Cup finals in France last year.
<br>Kashiwa's contract with him will expire in June next year,
and the club wanted him to stay on until at least the
end of the J-League season in November. [continue...]

Detailed information in the news at <a
href=http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/Stoichkov/25.html
target=new>http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/Stoichkov/25.html</a>

Dear Andrea,I see you love Hristo,but next time you publish something check if
it hasn't alraedy been published somewhere here.<br>                  
Greetings!

Dear Andrea,I see you love Hristo,but next time you publish something check if
it hasn't alraedy been published.<br>                   Greetings!

Stoichkov left Barcelona under a cloud in March
last year after eight years there and his career has
been peppered by frequent rows, disciplinary problems
and sendings-off. But what would a genius be without
a little disharmony to keep matters lively.
<br>Stoichkov has said goodbye -- although that does not
necessarily mean farewell. <br><br>[From Reuter]

Stoichkov started his international career in
September 1987 at the same stadium where he bade farewell
on Wednesday. Fearless and totally committed he
remained the driving force of the Bulgarian team even
after the best years of his career were over. The
highlights came in 1992 when he helped Barcelona win the
European Cup and in 1994 when he inspired Bulgaria to the
semifinals of the World Cup for the first time. Together
with Oleg Salenko of Russia, he finished joint top
scorer with six goals. Later that year he was voted
European footballer of the year. He had made local history
in 1990 when he was transfered from then champions
CSKA Sofia to Barcelona for almost $4.0 millions --
then an unheard of sum in post-communist eastern
Europe. Despite his wonderful gifts on the field, trouble
was never far behind. Stoichkov left Barcelona under
a cloud in March last year after eight years there
and his career has been peppered by frequent rows,
disciplinary problems and sendings-off. But what would a
genius be

However after the match he said: ``I have played
my last match for Bulgaria. I say goodbye and I
thank you all.''<br>Stoichkov has announced his
retirement before and only last week said that he had
promised to continue playing for the national team until
the end of the qualifying campaign. However, as
Bulgaria now have no mathematical chance of qualifying,
this seems the right time to go. His former Barcelona
coach Johan Cruyff, who arrived in Sofia on Wednesday
for the farewell game, gave him flowers and hugged
him before the kickoff. CSKA Sofia coach and
ex-Bulgarian head coach Dimitar Penev, whom Stoichkov largely
admires, also greeted him.

An era ended on Wednesday when Hristo Stoichkov
was substituted to a hero's farewell 16 minutes from
the end of Bulgaria's European qualifying match
against England. Stoichkov, 33, raised his arms in
triumph and blew a farwell kiss to the crowd to mark his
83rd and final appearance in the green and red
Bulgarian strip. <br>After 17 years and 37 goals for his
country, Stoichkov has announced his retirement from the
international arena, although he intends to play on at club
level. He is currently with Kashiwa Reysol in Japan. But
the brilliantly gifted, if volatile player did not
leave without making his mark. He created Bulgaria's
goal with a superbly taken left-foot freekick after 18
minutes which Georgi Markov superbly headed home, and his
dynamic runs deep into the heart of the English defence
appeared to show he had lost little of his pace and power
which were his hallmark in his heyday in the early
1990s at Barcelona. However after the match he said:
``I have played my last match for Bulgaria. I say
good

Bulgaria and England drew 1-1 in their European
soccer championship group five
qualifier.<br><br>Scorers: Alan Shearer 15’ Georgi Markov 18’<br>Attendance:
18,000 <br>Red card: Martin Petrov (Bulgaria) 59
<br><br>Bulgaria: Ivankov; Kishishev, Zagorcic, Stoilov, Markov,
Kirilov, S.Petrov, STOICHKOV (Batchev 74), Yovov (M.Petrov
46), Petkov, Iliev (Borimirov 61) <br>England: Seaman;
Neville, Gray, Woodgate (Parlour 65), Southgate, Campbell,
Redknapp, Batty; Shearer, Sheringham, Fowler (Heskey 82).
<br>Referee: Mario van der Ende, Netherlands <br><br>SOFIA,
June 9 (Reuters)

<a href=http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/Stoichkov/25.html
target=new>http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/Stoichkov/25.html</a><br>Everything you
need to know about the star-news,trivia,interviews,personal info,photoalbum etc
etc etc............<br><br>stoichkov_fan@...

ofia), Yordan Gospodinov (Neftochimik Bourgas)
<br>Defenders: Zlatomir Zagorcic (Litex Lovech), Ivailo Petkov
(Istanbulspor), Ivailo Yordanov (Sporting Lisbon), Rosen Kirilov
(Adanaspor), Georgi Markov (Lokomotiv Sofia) <br>Midfielders:
Ilian Stoyanov (Levski Kyustendil), Radostin Kishishev
(Litex Lovech), Zlatko Yankov (Neftochimik Bourgas),
Ilian Iliev (Levski Sofia), Milen Petkov (CSKA Sofia),
Stilyan Petrov (CSKA Sofia), Ilia Gruev (Neftochimik
Bourgas), Dragolyub Simonovic (Litex Lovech) <br>Forwards:
Hristo Yovov (Lokomotiv Sofia), HRISTO STOICHKOV
(Kashiwa Reysol), Daniel Borimirov (TSV 1860 Munich).

OFIA, May 10 (Reuters) - Bulgaria coach Dimitar
Dimitrov named an 18-strong squad on Monday for a friendly
international away to Slovakia on May 19. <br>Bulgaria's
first-choice goalkeeper Zdravko Zdravkov is still out with a
broken hand and midfielder Marian Hristov is also
sidelined by a long-term injury. Veteran HRISTO STOICHKOV,
who helped Bulgaria reach the semifinals of the 1994
World Cup and now plays in Japan's J.League for Kashiwa
Reysol, is the most experienced player in the squad. They
will gather for a training camp on May 17. Squad:
Goalkeepers: Dimitar Ivankov (Levski Sofia), Yordan Gospodinov
(Neftochimik Bourgas) Defenders: Zlatomir Zagorcic (Litex
Lovech), Ivailo Petkov (Istanbulspor), Ivailo Yordanov
(Sporting Lisbon), Rosen Kirilov (Adanaspor), Georgi Markov
(Lokomotiv Sofia) Midfielders: Ilian Stoyanov (Levski
Kyustendil), Radostin Kishishev (Litex), Zlatko Yankov
(Neftochimik), Ilian Iliev (Levski S.), Milen Petkov (CSKA),
Stilyan Petrov (CSKA), Ilia Gruev (Neftochimik),
Dragolyub Simonov

1.round<br><br>JEF United Ichihara 2 Henrique
(55), Hiroyama (84)<br>Kashiwa Reysol  5 Bentinho (21,
25, 63), Stoitchkov (22)<br>- - - - -<br>Verdy
Kawasaki 24p. Jubilo Iwata 23p. Shimizu S-Pulse 21p.
Cerezo Osaka 21p. KASHIWA REYSOL 20p. Sanfrecce
Hiroshima 18p. Yokohama F. Marinos 17p. Kashima Antlers
15p. Gamba Osaka 14p. Nagoya Grampus Eight 13p. Urawa
Red Diamonds 10p. Vissel Kobe 9p. JEF United
Ichihara, Bellmare Hiratsuka 9p. Avispa Fukuoka 8p. Kyoto
Purple Sanga 6p.

OFIA, Bulgaria, 10-MAR-99 - Hristo Stoichkov,
the greatest player in Bulgarian soccer history and
known as the Raging Bull, will retire at the end of the
season, the Sofia sports daily Meridian Match reported
Tuesday. <br>It stated that Stoichkov, who is currently
contracted to J-League team Kashiwa Reysol, will be named
head of the Bulgarian national teams after he retires
in June. <br>Stoichkov, 33, was European Footballer
of the Year in 1994 - the same year he was joint
top-scorer at the World Cup in the United States.
<br>Bulgarian fans will always remember Stoichkov for his
exploits at USA '94, when Bulgaria reached the World Cup
semifinals for the first time, knocking out Germany before
going down to Italy, which lost the final to Brazil.
<br>He has played for clubs including CSKA Sofia,
Barcelona and Parma during his career. <br><br>(From BFU
Home Page / Nando_Net)

TOICHKOV PLANS ENDING CAREER<br>Bulgarian
national soccer squad forward Hristo Stoichkov, who is
currently playing for Japanese Kashiwa Reysol, will end his
career after his contract with his present club expires,
Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) Executive Director Ivan
Voutsov said at a news conference Friday, adding that
Stoichkov had personally told him of his plans to leave
soccer. Stoichkov signed a two-year contract with the
Japanese club just before the World Cup Finals in France
which expires June, 2000. "BFU will organize a
Stoichkov Farewell match when he decides to say goodbye to
soccer. Hristo has been Bulgaria's most prominent
ambassador to the whole world in the recent years," Voutsov
said.<br><br>From BTA - Bulgarian News Agency<br>14:26:21
26-03-1999

am at a disadvantage here as just I
"discovered" Stoichkov, he seemed to slowly but surely
disappear from the news available to me. But then, I'm an
American and what little soccer (excuse me futbol) there
is relates to our little experiment. I'm still
trying to find someone who can elaborate on Stoichkov's
career and, of course, dish on his private life. So,
sorry... I can't help you with your rumor but if you can
enlighten me as to the trials, tribulations and triumphs of
the man, I'd really appreciate it.<br>Greetings from
the City that Works...aka Chicago. You may also use
that name if/when you e-mail me with the scoop.

lease confirm to my e-mail address whether anyone else has heard the rumour that
Hristo has quit football. I saw it on ITV Teletext p149 yesterday. Reuters and
AP News has nothing on this subject.

ey everybody! Hristo is still alive and kicking, so where are u? I read in the
newspapers today that Hristo signed with the Turkish club Trabzonspor. But maybe
this is another stupid rumour.

watched a X-mas interview with Stoichkov and he
said 'I'm staying in Japan till the end of my recent
contract, which expires in the spring of 2000". So, maybe
these rumours about him going in Turkey are false. In
the same interview Hristo also said that he believes
he'll play professional soccer in the next 2-3 years at
least.

´m a new member, I have followed "The Gipsy"
since he signed for Barça, I was lucky to speak to him
at Malaga airport after they played a friendly in
Granada just 1 week before Van Gaal had him out of the
team. I think he has been a great temperamental player,
¡¡ He´s been the best !!

here are some very strong rumours that Hristi is going to play for turkish club
Beshiktash. As you all know now Hristo plays for Kashiva Raysol (Japan) and his
transfer fee is about 500 000 dollars.

i! Welcome to this site.<br>You are right,he's the best soccer <br>player in the
world.<br>Thanks,<br>Carol

i, I'm new here. I wanted to create a FC for Stoichkov, but then I found this
one. It's very good. Hope to talk to all of you soon.

URO 2000 qualifiers<br>England-Bulgaria,Wembley
Stadium,London<br>10.10.98<br><br>Bulgarian
Squad<br>----------------------------------------------------------<br>GK:
Zdravko Zdravkov,Dimitar Ivankov<br><br>DEF:
Radostin Kishinev,Zlatomir Zagorcic,<br>Ivailo
Petkov,Vladimir Ivanov,Valentin Naidenov,Ivailo
Yordanov<br><br>MF/FW: Kostadin Vidolov,Ilian Iliev,Ilia Gruev,<br>Mitko
Trendafilov,Milen Petkov,Daniel Borimirov,Zlatko Yankov,HRISTO
STOICHKOV,<br>Georgi Ivanov,Georgi Bachev,Lyuboslav Penev,Marian
Hristov<br> <br>Coach:Dimitar Dimitrov<br><br>For more
information just go to this site:<br>www.uefa.com

i!<br>Swedes doesn't like Bulgarian players
generally.<br>That's what I hear very often here in
Stockholm.<br>Anyway, there are lot of Swedes who still like Hristo,
they even LOVE
him:<br><br><a href=http://www.tjorn.se/edu/hgvs/82c/
target=new>http://www.tjorn.se/edu/hgvs/82c/</a><br><a
href=http://www.hgs.se/~ee93mao/
target=new>http://www.hgs.se/~ee93mao/</a><br><a
href=http://www.docs.uu.se/~t96kas/puch/laget.html
target=new>http://www.docs.uu.se/~t96kas/puch/laget.html</a><br><br>Stoichkov
for President!<br><br>-- <br>---<br>Daniel
Belovarsky<br>CSKA Sofia Ultimate Fan Club<br><a href=http://www.cska.net
target=new>http://www.cska.net</a>

t's too bad he hasn't gotten a chance to win the world cup.He's the best!!!!!!

ulgaria's coach Hristo Bonev resigned Monday 24
hours after his side's defeat in a European
championship qualifier.<br> Two names are in the hat to suceed
him:assistant coach Dimitar Dimitrov aand Locomotiv Sofia's
boss Guergui Vassilev

e still believes that Bulgarian can qualify for
Euro '2000. Too many young players, Balakov and
Kostadinov should come back!<br><br>BTW: The coach Bonev
resigned yesterday!<br><br>---<br>Daniel
Belovarsky<br>CSKA Sofia Ultimate Fan Club<br><a href=http://www.cska.net
target=new>http://www.cska.net</a>

he best player of this match was Hristo.

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