EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS /16 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS

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1 EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS /16 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Bulgaria Last updated 08/07/ :36CET Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski - Sofia Friday 10 October CET (21.45 local time) Group H - Matchday -11 Croatia EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS OFFICIAL SPONSORS Previous meetings 2 Match background 3 Squad list 4 Head coach 6 Match officials 7 Competition facts 8 Match-by-match lineups 10 Team facts 11 Legend 13 1

2 Previous meetings Head to Head FIFA World Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 04/06/2005 QR (GS) Bulgaria - Croatia 1-3 Sofia 09/10/2004 QR (GS) Croatia - Bulgaria 2-2 Zagreb M.Petrov 72; Babić 18, Tudor 58, Kranjčar 80 Srna 15, 32 (P); M.Petrov 78, Berbatov 87 UEFA EURO 2004 Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 11/10/2003 QR (GS) Croatia - Bulgaria 1-0 Zagreb Olić 48 12/10/2002 QR (GS) Bulgaria - Croatia 2-0 Sofia St.Petrov 22, Berbatov 37 EURO Qualifying Home Away Final tournament Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Bulgaria Croatia FIFA* Bulgaria Croatia Friendlies Bulgaria Croatia Total Bulgaria Croatia * FIFA World Cup/FIFA Confederations Cup 2

3 Match background Bulgaria and Croatia both reached the finals last time they were paired in a UEFA European Championship qualifying group, and will hope their reunion in Group H augurs well. Match background Bulgaria's record in six encounters with Croatia is undistinguished: W1 D2 L3 (W1 D0 L1 at home, W0 D2 L1 in Croatia). Their most recent encounters came in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Darijo Srna (15 and 31) gave Zlatko Kranjčar's side a comfortable lead in Zagreb on 9 October 2004 nearly ten years to the day before their current match only for a Martin Petrov effort (77) and Dimitar Berbatov's 86th-minute header to earn Hristo Stoichkov's visitors a 2-2 draw. Marko Babić (18), Igor Tudor (59) and Niko Kranjčar (80) struck either side of Martin Petrov (72) in the return fixture on 4 June 2005, Croatia winning 3-1 in Sofia. The sides' only previous UEFA European Championship encounters were in UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying. Stiliyan Petrov (22) and Dimitar Berbatov (37) struck as Plamen Markov's Bulgaria beat Otto Barić's Croatia 2-0 in Sofia on 12 October Croatia redeemed themselves on 11 October 2003 with a 1-0 home win, substitute Ivica Olić's 48thminute strike earning his side a play-off place with Bulgaria already confirmed as group winners. In 14 matches between clubs from these nations in UEFA competition, the Bulgarian sides' record is W4 D3 L7 (W3 D3 L2 at home, W1 D0 L5 in Croatia). Most recently, their respective champions PFC Ludogorets Razgrad and GNK Dinamo met in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage, the Bulgarian side winning 3-0 at home and 2-1 in Zagreb. Bulgarian and Croatian sides have met in nine UEFA youth and age-limit matches, for which Bulgaria's record is W3 D1 L5. 3

4 Squad list Bulgaria Current season Overall Qual. FT Team No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Nikolay Mihaylov 28/06/ Mersin Vladislav Stoyanov 08/06/ Ludogorets Bozhidar Mitrev 31/03/ Defenders Lokomotiv Sofia Petar Zanev 18/10/ Amkar Stanislav Manolev 16/12/ Dinamo Moskva Veselin Minev 14/10/ Levski Aleksandar Aleksandrov 13/04/ Ludogorets Nikolay Bodurov 30/05/ Fulham Ilia Milanov 19/02/ Litex Yordan Minev 14/10/ Ludogorets Apostol Popov 22/12/ CSKA Sofia Midfielders - Hristo Zlatinski 22/01/ Ludogorets Georgi Iliev 05/09/ Shijiazhuang Yongchang - Yordan Hristov 12/02/ Botev Plovdiv Vladimir Gadzhev 18/07/ Levski Ivelin Popov 26/10/ Kuban Svetoslav Dyakov 31/05/ Ludogorets Alexandar Tonev 03/02/ Celtic Georgi Milanov 19/02/ CSKA Moskva Mihail Alexandrov 11/06/ Ludogorets Forwards - Ilian Micanski 20/12/ Karlsruhe Ventsislav Hristov 09/11/ Beroe Andrej Galabinov 27/11/ Livorno Coach - Luboslav Penev 31/08/

5 Croatia Current season Overall Qual. FT Team No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Danijel Subašić 27/10/ Monaco Lovre Kalinić 03/04/ Hajduk Split Ivan Vargić 15/03/ Rijeka Defenders - Darijo Srna 01/05/ Vedran Ćorluka 05/02/ Shakhtar Donetsk Lokomotiv Moskva Ivan Strinić 17/07/ Dnipro Domagoj Vida 29/04/ Dynamo Kyiv Gordon Schildenfeld 18/03/ Panathinaikos Ivan Tomečak 07/12/ Rijeka Marko Lešković 27/04/ Rijeka Hrvoje Milić 10/05/ Rostov Midfielders - Danijel Pranjić 02/12/ Panathinaikos Luka Modrić 09/09/ Real Madrid Ivan Rakitić 10/03/ Barcelona Ivan Perišić 02/02/ Wolfsburg Mateo Kovačić 06/05/ Internazionale Marcelo Brozović 16/11/ Dinamo Zagreb Alen Halilović 18/06/ Barcelona Forwards - Ivica Olić 14/09/ Wolfsburg Nikica Jelavić 27/08/ Hull Mario Mandžukić 21/05/ Atlético Andrej Kramarić 19/06/ Rijeka Duje Čop 01/02/ Coach Dinamo Zagreb Niko Kovač 15/10/

6 Head coach Luboslav Penev Date of birth: 31 August 1966 Nationality: Bulgarian Playing career: PFC CSKA Sofia (twice), Valencia CF, Club Atlético de Madrid, SD Compostela, RC Celta de Vigo, PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1936 Coaching career: PFC CSKA Sofia, PFC Litex Lovech, Bulgaria One of Bulgaria's greatest goalscorers, Penev began his career at CSKA in 1985, making his debut under his uncle Dimitar Penev. Formed a fearsome attacking trident with Hristo Stoichkov and Emil Kostadinov, and in his first spell with the Reds won two league titles, three domestic cups and was named Bulgarian player of the year in Moved to Valencia in autumn 1989 and in six years there registered 101 goals in 226 appearances. In summer 1995 he joined Atlético, lifting the double in his only season. Hung up his boots in 1999 and was elected president of CSKA, a position he held until early 2001 when he resumed playing for the capital team before moving on to Lokomotiv Plovdiv. He retired for good in Missed Bulgaria's finest hour, their fourth-place finish at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as he was recovering from testicular cancer. In total, scored 13 times in 62 internationals, appearing at EURO '96 and the 1998 World Cup. Started coaching with CSKA in March 2009, succeeding his uncle and guiding the Army Men into the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage. Left CSKA in January 2010 and that September took over at Litex, steering them to the championship in Stood down that October to lead the national side and in November 2013 extended his contract until the end of UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying. Penev coached Bulgaria in tandem with PFC Botev Plovdiv after being hired as the Canaries' coach in June 2014, but relinquished the club role after just a month to focus on international duties. Niko Kovač Date of birth: 15 October 1971 Nationality: Croatian Playing career: FC Hertha 03 Berlin-Zehlendorf, Hertha BSC Berlin, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Hamburger SV, FC Bayern München, FC Salzburg Coaching career: Croatia Under-21, Croatia Born in Berlin to parents hailing from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kovač began his career at local side Hertha Zehlendorf before earning a move to second-tier Hertha Berlin in A defensive midfielder, he then joined Leverkusen, playing alongside younger brother Robert for the first time. Signed for Hamburg in 1999 but was reunited with Robert when the pair were snapped up by Bayern two years later. Won a league and cup double in 2002/03 yet struggled to tie down a starting spot and returned to Hertha in 2003, subsequently ending his playing days with Salzburg. Collected his first Croatia cap in 1996 and featured in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying, only for injury to rule him out of the finals. He was ever-present, though, at the 2002 World Cup and UEFA EURO He was also a fixture at the 2006 global showpiece and impressed at UEFA EURO 2008, finishing up in 2009 with 83 caps and 14 international goals under his belt. Quickly turned to coaching, first overseeing Salzburg's youth side and then working as a first-team assistant. Left Salzburg in 2012 and took charge, along with brother Robert, of Croatia's U21 squad in January Named caretaker coach of Croatia's senior team on 16 October 2013 following Igor Štimac's resignation, he penned a two-year deal the next day and oversaw a 2-0 aggregate victory over Iceland in the 2014 World Cup play-offs, Croatia bowing out in the group stage in Brazil. 6

7 Match officials Referee Assistant referees Additional assistant referees Fourth official UEFA Delegate UEFA Referee observer Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP) Pau Cebrián Devís (ESP), Jon Nunez Fernandez (ESP) Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP), Juan Martinez Munuera (ESP) Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar (ESP) Metin Kazancioglu (TUR) Vladimir Sajn (SVN) Referee Name Date of birth UEFA EURO matches UEFA matches Antonio Mateu Lahoz 12/03/ Antonio Mateu Lahoz Referee since: 1992 First division: 2008 FIFA badge: 2011 Tournaments: N/A Finals N/A UEFA European Championship matches featuring the two countries involved in this match No such matches refereed Other matches involving teams from either of the two countries involved in this match Date Competition Stage Home Away Result Venue 19/07/2012 UEL 2QR PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1936 Vitesse 4-4 Lovech 7

8 Competition facts UEFA European Championship qualifying records There have been 14 qualifying tournaments for the UEFA European Championship with 11 countries participating in all of them: Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Spain and Turkey. The Soviet Union and Russia combined have also been involved in all 14 qualifying tournaments, as have Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. Of those ever-present nations, Spain have the most successful record, reaching the final tournament on nine occasions, including the 1964 event which they hosted. The most prolific qualifying country are West Germany/Germany, with ten successful attempts out of 11. Their only failure was in their first participation, for the 1968 tournament. They are on a run of ten successful qualifications, broken only by EURO '88, for which they qualified automatically as hosts. Discounting host nation exemptions, France and Germany hold the record for consecutive qualifications, from 1992 to Like West Germany/Germany, the Soviet Union/Russia have enjoyed a record ten successful qualifications but from a maximum 14 entries. The best percentage record for a single country is shared by Germany and the Czech Republic, who both have a 100% success rate, with six and five qualifications respectively. Next best are Croatia, who have qualified four times out of five (80%), from 1996 to Excluding tournament hosts, 2016 organisers France among them, ten countries are on a run of multiple successful qualifications going into UEFA EURO 2016 Germany (six), Czech Republic, Italy and Spain (five), Sweden (four), Croatia, Greece, Netherlands and Russia (three), and Portugal (two). Including tournament hosts, the longest sequences of ongoing consecutive multiple participations at the finals are as follows: West Germany/Germany (11), the Netherlands (seven), France (six), Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal and Spain (five), Sweden (four), Croatia, Greece, Russia (three), and Poland (two). Of the 53 nations pursuing a UEFA EURO 2016 spot via the qualifiers, 26 have never featured at a final tournament. Additionally, neither Austria nor Ukraine have ever experienced a fruitful qualifying campaign, their only appearances at the finals being in 2008 and 2012 respectively, when they were co-hosts. Gibraltar are the sole association in the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying field to be making their competition debut. Montenegro will make their second appearance and Kazakhstan their third. On just one of their ten successful qualification bids have West Germany/Germany failed to qualify as group winners. That was in 2008, when the Czech Republic edged them into second place, a position that also carried automatic qualification. The longest ongoing streak of qualifying group victories is held by Italy, who have topped their section in each of the last four competitions. Greece have the next best record in that regard, finishing first in the last three qualifying events. Spain are the only other nation to have won their group in the qualifying campaigns for both 2008 and Hungary and the Republic of Ireland share the record for the highest number of qualification matches played by a single nation, with 111 apiece, although the Soviet Union/Russia have contested 113. Fourteen other countries or combinations have amassed a century or more of qualifying games with four Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Portugal joining that select band when they played their first fixture on the road to UEFA EURO Spain have registered the most UEFA European Championship qualifying wins, 74, followed by Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic on 71, with the Soviet Union/Russia on 68 and the Netherlands on 68. Spain are also the competition's top goalscorers, finding the net 270 times. The Netherlands are second in the list with 237. The side with the highest number of defeats are Luxembourg with 86, followed by Malta (79) and Cyprus (69). Aside from debutants Gibraltar, two teams have never won a UEFA European Championship qualifier. Indeed, both San Marino and Andorra have lost every one of their matches 58 and 42 respectively. The most goals conceded by one team is 284, by Luxembourg, closely followed by Malta on 277. San Marino are next up on 260 from just 58 games, in which they have scored a mere six goals, the fewest by any competing nation. The Republic of Ireland have drawn 32 qualifiers, more than any other side but closely followed by Romania on 31. Only five teams have qualified with a perfect record in their group France (eight victories out of eight, EURO '92 8

9 and UEFA EURO 2004), Czech Republic (ten out of ten, UEFA EURO 2000), Germany (ten, UEFA EURO 2012), and Spain (eight, UEFA EURO 2012). Italy have the longest ongoing unbeaten UEFA European Championship qualifying run, having avoided defeat in each of their last 22 qualifying matches. Greece's 18-game unbeaten run was ended by Romania on matchday one, Spain's own 18-match streak and Germany's 13-game sequence both ended on matchday two. England (13) are also on a long sequence without defeat. Those five countries all came through the UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying campaign unbowed, but no side avoided defeat en route to UEFA EURO Armenia have never qualified for a UEFA European Championship final tournament but they boast the player with the most appearances in the qualifying competition, defender Sargis Hovsepyan with 47. Liechtenstein's Mario Frick is next on the all-time listing with 45 appearances - followed on 40 by Latvia's Vitālijs Astafjevs with Finland's Jari Litmanen on 38. The Republic of Ireland's Robbie Keane became the highest scorer in UEFA European Championship qualifying matches on matchday two as his hat-trick against Gibraltar took him to 21 goals. He leapfrogged Turkey's Hakan Şükür on 20 goals and Czech Republic's Jan Koller and Denmark's Jon Dahl Tomasson, both on 19. Two players are on 18 goals: Miroslav Klose (Germany) and Raúl González (Spain). The highest number of goals netted in a single qualifying tournament is 13, by Northern Ireland's David Healy ahead of the 2008 finals. Next on the chart are Davor Šuker (1996) and Huntelaar (2012) with 12 apiece. 9

10 Match-by-match lineups Execption in [/mediaservices/presskits/uefaeuro/season=2016/round= /day=2/session=2/match= /chapters/matchby Slot [] ExceptionInfo [Error executing child request for /code/presskits/matchbymatch.aspx.] Inner Exception [Exception of type 'System.Web.HttpUnhandledException' was thrown.] 10

11 Team facts UEFA European Championship records: Bulgaria History 2012 did not qualify 2008 did not qualify 2004 group stage 2000 did not qualify 1996 group stage 1992 did not qualify 1988 did not qualify 1984 did not qualify 1980 did not qualify 1976 did not qualify 1972 did not qualify 1968 quarter-finals 1964 did not qualify 1960 did not qualify Final tournament win 1-0: Bulgaria v Romania, 13/06/96 Final tournament defeat 5-0: Sweden v Bulgaria, 14/06/04 Qualifying win 5-0: Bulgaria v Malta, 11/06/75 Qualifying defeat 4-0: England v Bulgaria, 03/09/10 Final tournament appearances 4: Daniel Borimirov 3: 15 players Final tournament goals 3: Hristo Stoichkov 1: Martin Petrov Overall appearances 35: Stiliyan Petrov 28: Borislav Mihaylov 27: Martin Petrov 27: Hristo Stoichkov 26: Nasko Sirakov Overall goals 15: Hristo Stoichkov 11: Dimitar Berbatov 9: Emil Kostadinov 8: Martin Petrov 8: Nasko Sirakov UEFA European Championship records: Croatia History 2012 group stage 2008 quarter-finals 2004 group stage 2000 did not qualify 1996 quarter-finals Final tournament win 3-0: Croatia v Denmark, 16/06/96 Final tournament defeat 11

12 0-3: Croatia v Portugal, 19/06/96 Qualifying win 7-0: Croatia v Andorra, 07/10/06 Qualifying defeat 0-2: four times, most recently Greece v Croatia, 07/10/11 Final tournament appearances 8: Darijo Srna 7: Vedran Ćorluka 6: Niko Kovač 6: Robert Kovač 6: Josip Šimunić 6: Ivica Olić 6: Niko Kranjčar 6: Stipe Pletikosa 6: Danijel Pranjić 6: Ivan Rakitić 6: Luka Modrić Final tournament goals 3: Mario Mandžukić 3: Davor Šuker 2: Ivan Klasnić Overall appearances 36: Darijo Srna 32: Stipe Pletikosa 32: Vedran Ćorluka 31: Josip Šimunić 30: Dario Šimić 30: Luka Modrić 28: Ivica Olić Overall goals 20: Davor Šuker 13: Eduardo 8: Mladen Petrić 6: Zvonimir Boban 6: Niko Kranjčar 6: Darijo Srna 6: Mario Mandžukić 12

13 Legend :: Previous meetings Goals for/against: Goal totals include the outcome of disciplinary decisions (e.g. match forfeits when a 3-0 result is determined). Goals totals do not include goals scored during a penalty shoot-out after a tie ended in a draw :: Squad list Qual.: Total European Qualifiers appearances/goals for UEFA EURO 2016 only. FT: Total UEFA EURO 2016 appearances/goals in final tournament only. Overall: Total international appearances/goals. DoB: Date of birth Age: Based on the date press kit was last updated D: Disciplinary (*: misses next match if booked, S: suspended) :: Team facts EURO finals: The UEFA European Championship was a four-team event in 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 (when the preliminary round and quarter-finals were considered part of qualifying). From 1980 it was expanded to an eight-team finals and remained in that format in 1984, 1988 and 1992 until 1996, when the 16-team format was adopted. UEFA EURO 2016 is the first tournament to be played as a 24-team finals. Records of inactive countries A number of UEFA associations have been affected by dissolution or splits of member associations. For statistical purposes, the records of these inactive countries have been allocated elsewhere: therefore, all Soviet Union matches are awarded to Russia; all West Germany but not East Germany matches are awarded to Germany; all Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro matches are awarded to Serbia; all Czechoslovakia matches are allocated to both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Abandoned/forfeited matches For statisical purposes, when a match has been started and then abandoned but later forfeited, the result on the pitch at the time of abandonment is counted. Matches that never started and were either cancelled or forfeited are not included in the overall statistics. Competitions Other abbreviations (aet): After extra time pens: Penalties No.: Number og: Own goal ag: Match decided on away goals P: Penalty agg: Aggregate Pld: Matches played AP: Appearances Pos.: Position Comp.: Competition Pts: Points D: Drawn R: Sent off (straight red card) DoB: Date of birth Res.: Result ET: Extra Time sg: Match decided by silver goal GA: Goals against t: Match decided by toss of a coin GF: Goals for W: Won gg: Match decided by golden goal Y: Booked L: Lost Y/R: Sent off (two yellow cards) Nat.: Nationality N/A: Not applicable Disclaimer: Although UEFA has taken all reasonable care that the information contained within this document is accurate at the time of publication, no representation or guarantee (including liability towards third parties), expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness. Therefore, UEFA assumes no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein. More information can be found in the competition regulations available on UEFA.com. 13