Hristo Stoichkov

(Христо Стоичков Стоичков)

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Born
1966 (60 years old)
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Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Position
Forward

Status
Retired

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Height
178 cm

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Soccer

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Description

Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgarian: Христо Стоичков pronounced ; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer and current football commentator for TUDN. A prolific forward, he is widely regarded as the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time. He was the runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1992 and 1994 and received the Ballon d'Or in 1994. He was also named the BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year in 1994. In 2004, Stoichkov was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.

At the club level, Stoichkov spent six years at CSKA Sofia and became the top goalscorer in Europe in 1990, receiving the European Golden Shoe. In 1990, he joined Barcelona, where he earned the Spanish nickname "El Pistolero" (lit. 'The Gunslinger') and was part of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team", which won four consecutive La Liga titles and the 1992 European Cup. During his time at the club, he formed a prolific strike partnership with Romário. Cruyff played a crucial role in bringing him to Barcelona, where he quickly developed into one of the most prolific forwards in the world.

Stoichkov was a member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where he emerged as the top scorer with six goals, earning the World Cup Golden Boot. He was ranked as the third-best player at the World Cup, following Romário and Roberto Baggio, and received the World Cup Bronze Ball. In addition to his exceptional footballing talent, he was known for his fiery temperament on the pitch. During his playing career, he was also nicknamed The Dagger (Камата).

Stoichkov debuted for the Bulgaria national team in a UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying match against Belgium on 23 September 1987. He scored his first international goal in his fourth appearance, a 3–2 friendly defeat of Qatar in Doha.

During qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Stoichkov scored five goals, helping Bulgaria qualify for its first major tournament since the 1986 World Cup. At the tournament finals, he was awarded the World Cup Golden Boot as the joint top goal scorer (alongside Oleg Salenko), netting six goals, and he also received the Bronze Ball award. Stoichkov led Bulgaria past Germany in the quarter-finals with a 2–1 shock result, as Germany were the defending champions. In the semi-finals, Bulgaria lost 2–1 to Italy, and they subsequently fell to Sweden in the third-place play-off, losing 4–0.

Bulgaria finished second in the qualifying group for Euro 1996 behind Germany. Stoichkov scored ten goals for his team during the qualifiers, helping Bulgaria qualify as one of the six best runners-up. In the first match against Germany in Sofia, Bulgaria was 2–0 down at half-time. Stoichkov equalized with two penalty goals, and Emil Kostadinov also scored, resulting in a 3–2 victory. Bulgaria lost the second match in Germany 3–1. During the finals, Bulgaria lost 3–1 in the decisive group match against a strong France side; in the other match, Spain defeated Romania 2–1, leading to Bulgaria's elimination. In that tournament, Stoichkov scored three goals in three matches.

He was also part of the squad that was eliminated in the first round of the 1998 World Cup. Bulgaria was not nearly as strong as in previous years, earning only one point from a 0–0 draw against Paraguay and scoring just one goal through Kostadinov in a 6–1 defeat by Spain. Stoichkov retired from international football in 1999 with 37 goals in 83 appearances. His last game was during the Euro 2000 qualification against England, which ended 1–1; Stoichkov assisted Georgi Markov for the equalizing goal from a free kick. In the same game, he was substituted for Martin Petrov, who made his debut in the Bulgarian shirt. Ironically, both are Bulgaria's only goalscorers in a UEFA Euro tournament: Stoichkov was the sole scorer in 1996 with three goals, while Petrov scored in 2004 in the 2–1 loss against Italy. Bulgaria failed to qualify for Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands after that match, as they needed a win to keep their chances alive.

He later served as coach of the Bulgaria national team from 2004 to April 2007.

In the 2003–04 season, Stoichkov began his managerial career as a forward coach at Barcelona. Following the resignation of Bulgarian national team manager Plamen Markov after the team's first-round exit from UEFA Euro 2004, Stoichkov was appointed as the new national team manager on July 15, 2004. However, his tenure as manager got off to a rocky start, as he failed to lead Bulgaria to qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Stoichkov's fiery temperament, which had characterized his playing days, carried over into his coaching style. This led to several proven players quitting the national team due to personal conflicts with him. A notable incident occurred on September 5, 2005, during a match against Sweden when Stoichkov was sent off for insulting the referee.

The most significant setback in his management came on October 12, 2006, when Stiliyan Petrov, the team captain, announced that he would no longer play for Bulgaria as long as Stoichkov was at the helm. This marked the third player and the second captain to leave the squad due to disagreements with Stoichkov. However, on March 17, 2007, Petrov revealed that he had a private conversation with Stoichkov, where they were able to resolve their differences, leading to his return to the national team.

On 10 April 2007, the Bulgarian Football Union announced that they had accepted the resignation of Stoichkov from his position with the national team. This decision was a result of the team's poor performance in the ongoing UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, which was followed by widespread criticism and debate regarding the manager's capabilities. The specific match that intensified pressure on Stoichkov was the 0–0 home draw against Albania, despite the fact that the Bulgarians generally controlled the game and struck the post twice. He had a brief and disappointing tenure as manager at Celta Vigo, where he was dismissed following the team's decline into the lower reaches of the Spanish Second Division.

On 29 June 2009, Stoichkov moved to Mamelodi Sundowns, replacing Henri Michel. On 16 March 2010, he resigned from Mamelodi Sundowns, and the former South Africa national team manager Trott Moloto was appointed caretaker until a full-time replacement could be found.

In 2011, the Vietnam Football Federation invited Stoichkov to become the head manager of the Vietnam national team; however, he declined the position. In the 2011–12 season, he served as an advisor for the Russian club Rostov.

In January 2012, Stoichkov was appointed manager of the Bulgarian side Litex Lovech, replacing Lyuboslav Penev, who left to become the manager of the Bulgaria national team. In May 2013, Stoichkov was recognized as the A PFG Manager of the Season following a vote by professional footballers in the Bulgarian league. In June 2013, he was named the manager of the Bulgarian powerhouse—and former club—CSKA Sofia, but resigned one month later after losing faith in the troubled club.

Stoichkov is married to Mariana, and they have two daughters: Hristina and Mihaela. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was one of the public figures in Bulgaria who strongly supported the COVID-19 vaccination campaign and criticized the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in his country.

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