The Bulgaria 2010 Review: Sports

Berbatov is pictured here in mid December 2010 receiving for the seventh time Bulgaria's Football Player of the Year award. Photo by BGNES

2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

The biggest international football tournament, World Cup 2010, started June 11 in Johannesburg, South Africa, a historical event for the country, which was hosting the tournament for the first time.

The official celebrations began the day before with a 3-hour concert at Soweto's Orlando stadium. Popular international singers, among which Alicia Keys, Black Eyed Peas, and African Amadou & Mariam and Hugh Masekela, entertained the 30 000 people audience, as well as the TV viewers in around 215 countries.

Argentina, South Korea, England, USA, Japan, the Netherlands, Brazil, Portugal, Uruguay, Ghana, Chile, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Slovakia, and Paraguay were the teams that qualified for the Group of 16 in the championship.

From them, Uruguay, Ghana, the Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Paraguay and Spain played at the quarter-finals.

At the semi-finals, the Netherlands defeated Uruguay 3:2 and Spain defeated Germany 1:0. Then, Germany scored a victory of 3:2 over Uruguay and ranked third in the championship.

At the final, Spain defeated the Netherlands 1:0 after 120 minutes on the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. The only goal was scored by Spain's Iniesta in the 116th minute after Netherlands' back Heitinga received a red card in the 110th minute.

Thus, Spain became the eighth team to ever win a World Cup tournament, and the first European team to do so outside of Europe.

Spain were also the second team to win a World Cup after winning the European Cup before that (in 2008 in Austria and Switzerland). The only team to have done so until now was Germany.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup made a sensation out of Paul the Octopus – a phenomenal octopus, which predicted correctly all Germany's matches and the final match of the championship.

Unfortunately, Paul the Octopus died in October in his home, the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, and sent millions of fans in grief.

Bulgaria's Dimitar Berbatov Called It Quits with National Team

The Manchester United striker, Dimitar Berbatov, announced May 13 that he will no longer play with Bulgaria's national football team and is leaving them after 11 years.

During his press conference, Berbatov, who was also the captain of team, did not state a particular reason, just a combination of several ones – fatigue and inability to do more for the national team, a knee problem, the need to give way to younger players, focus on his play with the UK club, and on his family and his baby daughter and spare them the huge stress he has been subjected to as the nationals' captain.

According to numerous speculations, Berbatov decided to withdraw over harsh and persistent media attacks and non-stop criticism of his performance with the national team, however, he said he was not at all upset and criticism was not the reason behind his decision.

"No one has achieved anything by being upset. I have a goal in life and in my career and I follow my plan," Berbatov explained.

It was later announced that Bulgarian footballer Stilyan Petrov, who was playing for FC Aston Villa, will be the new captain of the national team.

Bulgaria's Berbatov Wins Barclays Golden Boot Landmark

Bulgarian striker and Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov was presented with a Barclays Golden Boot '10-goal' Landmark Award in December after becoming the first player in the Barclays Premier League to hit double figures in the season. This is the first time that the prestigious award is scooped by a Bulgarian player.

Bulgaria's Stiliyan Petrov Confirms 2012 Bulgaria Retirement

Bulgarian star Stiliyan Petrov has confirmed his retirement from international football with Bulgaria, after the Euro 2012 championships.

Lothar Matthaeus Takes Over Bulgarian National Football Team

Legendary German football player and manager Lothar Matthaeus is the newcoach of the Bulgarian national team.

The news was announced by Borislav Mihaylov, head of the Bulgarian Football Union, after the meeting of the Union's executive committee September 21.

The contract of Matthaeus with the Bulgarian national football team will be for two years with an option to be extended depending on his accomplishments on the new post.

The President of the Bulgarian Football Union refused to disclose the payment that the German football legend will receive as coach of the Bulgarians with the argument that the Union is a self-financed organization that will be providing Matthaeus's salary on its own.

The Bulgarian football authorities have had to seek a new coach after the resignation of Stanimir Stoilov who led the team for about two years.

Stoilov resigned as the national team failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and then suffered humiliating losses in their first two matches from the Euro 2012 qualifications at the beginning of September – 4:0 from England in London, and 0:1 from Montenegro in Sofia.

The crisis in the team deepened in the spring of 2010 when its star striker, Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov, decided to call it quits. After the crushing losses from England and Montenegro, its other key player, Aston Villa's sweeper Stiliyan Petrov was also rumored to be preparing to leave the team.

Great Year for Bulgaria's Tennis Star Tsvetana Pironkova

Bulgaria's top female tennis player Tsvetana Pironkova had the best year in her career so far.

She was Wimbledon's sensation, when she became the first Bulgarian player to reach semi-final at a Grand Slam tournament in the women's singles after defeating No. 2 seed Venus Williams in the quarter final.

At the Wimbledon semi-final Pironkova lost 2:1 sets to the Russian Vera Zvonareva, who was defeated by US tennis star Serena Williams at the final.

In September, Pironkova also participated in the Grand Slam championship US Open, where she reached the second round but suffered a 4-6,0-6 defeat by Mandy Minella from Luxembourg.

The 23-year-old Bulgarian star climbed the rankings by 51 spots to a new career-high of No 31 in the world. Her best ranking before Wimbledon was No 40 in June, 2008.

Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov – The Next Tennis Star

Bulgaria's top male tennis star Grigor Dimitrov progressed strongly in 2010.

In only six months, Dimitrov managed to get from No 360 (June) to No106 (December). He showed impressive results at the ATP Challengers in Dortmund, Germany, Irun, Spain, Orleans, France and Bangkok, Thailand and Geneva, Switzerland.

The Bulgarian star was featured for the second time in the list of the UK multi-sports website Sportinglife.com, after winning the boys singles at Wimbledon and the junior US Open in 2008. This time, he was announced 2010 Best Men's Prospect.

Bulgaria Ranks 7th at World Volleyball Championship

Bulgaria won the 7th place at the World Volleyball Championship in Italy.

The Bulgarian team missed its chance to make it to the top spots after it suffered a dramatic loss from Cuba in the quarter finals.

The Bulgarian volleyball team, which entered the tournament with high hopes, did not make a convincing showing in the first round, with two losses (2:3 to France and 1:3 to the Czech Republic) and only one win (3:0 against China) in Pool E.

After the unconvincing performance of the national team at the 2010 World Volleyball Championship, the leadership of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation (BVF) has asked the most successful Bulgarian volleyball coach, Radostin Stoychev, to replace the Italian Silvano Prandi.

Wrestling

Bulgaria won three gold medals at the World Wrestling Championship in Moscow in September.

Top Bulgarian female freestyle wrestler Stanka Zlateva won a world title for Bulgaria. In the 72-kg category final, Zlateva beat 2:0 Canada's Oheneva Akufto after being victorious in the previous rounds of the contest.

Bulgarian Hristo Marinov, took the world champion wrestling title in Greco-Roman style. At the world championship 84-kg final, Marinov took the gold after overcoming Cuban, Pablo Shorey Hernandez, with 2:0 and 1:0.

Bulgarian Mihail Ganev won the gold medal in the 84 kg category at the WorldWrestling Championship in Moscow Saturday. Ganev won the final against Uzbekistan representative Zaurbek Sokhiev 2:1 (1:0, 0:4, 4:2).

In November, Zlateva was declared Best Female Wrestler of the year 2010 by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) for the fourth time.

Swimming

Bulgarian swimmer Petar Stoychev won the bronze medal in the 25-km race at the long-distance swimming World Championship in Canada in July. In August, he won the Swimming Marathon World Cup for the 32-km swim in Roberval, Canada.

In August, Stoychev won the Ohrid swimming marathon for the ninth time in his carrier. Stoychev swam best the 30-km stretch at 5.37:39, leaving behind German Alexander Studinski (second) and Argentinian Damian Bloom.

The Bulgarian swimmer Mihail, aka Mike, Alexandrov, won a US national swimming contest as a US sports citizen in August. Alexandrov, who has a Bulgarian, as well as US citizenship, has won the gold medal at the men's 100m breaststroke in Irvine, California, USA with a time of 1:00.26 min.

In December, Mike finished fourth with a time of 57.42 in the men's final of the 100m breaststroke at the World Short Course Championships in Dubai 2010. The result  could be considered a disappointment, as Alexandrov was favored to win the final. 

Chess

Bulgaria's top chess player, Veselin Topalov, has won the title at the prestigious chess tournament in Linares, Spain, also known as the "Wimbledon of Chess."

In May, India's Viswanathan Anand defeated Bulgaria star Veselin Topalov to retain his world chess title after winning the final 12th game in Sofia. Anand thus became the first ever player to win the title 3 times, after his victories in 2005 and 2009, the first of which was again over Topalov.

2010 ISU European Championship

Bulgarian athlete Evgenia Radanova has won the bronze medal in the 1 500 meters competition at the 2010 ISU European Championship in short track speed skating, held in Dresden, Germany.

Sumo

In March, Bulgaria sumo wrestler Kaloyan Mahlyanov-Kotooshu registered his sixth victory in the Spring Sumo super tournament in Osaka, Japan.

Bulgaria Hosts 9th European Mountain Running Championship

The 9th European Mountain Running Championship was held in July in the Bulgarian town of Sapareva Banya in the south-western Bulgarian Rila Mountains.

The women's contest was won by France's Marie Laure Dumergues, followed by Valentina Belotti from Italy and Elena Nagovitsyna from Russia. The winner in the men's contest was Ahmet Arslan from Turkey, followed by Italians Martin Dematteis and Marco De Gasperi.

The championships also included a juniors race, won by Romanian Denisa Ionela Dragomir (women) and Turk Huseyin Pak (men).

Rally

Six-time world champion from the World Rally Championship Sebastien Loeb of the Citroen Total team won Rally Bulgaria in July.

Bulgarian pilots Todor Slavov and Dobromir Filipov  won third place in the overall ranking of the Junior World Rally Championship (J-WRC) in October. This iss the first time ever a Bulgarian team grabs a medal from FIA's World Rally Championship final ranking.

Snowboarding

Bulgaria's best snowboarder Alexandra Jekova  won the silver medal in the third women's cross for the 2011 in Telluride, Colorado in December. The 23-year-old Jekova came in second after 29-year-old Dominique Maltais of Canada with another Canadian, Maelle Ricker, coming in third.

Weightlifting

Bulgaria's Boyanka Kostova won a historic victory for Bulgaria after clinching theweightlifting gold in the girls' under-53kg category in the Youth Olympic Games(YOG) in Singapore in August.

Gymnastics

The Bulgarian team won the bronze medals after an excellent performance with hoops at the 30th rhythmic gymnastics world championships in Moscow, Russia, in September. The squad included Reneta Kamberova, Mihaela Maevska, Tsvetelina Naydenova, Elena Marinova, Hristina Todorova and Katrin Velkova. 

Kayaking

Bulgarian Miroslav Kirchev won the gold medal in 500 m kayak single at the Europeancanoe and kayak racing championship in Moscow, Russia in July.

Running

Bulgarian runner Vanya Stambolova won the silver medal at 400 m hurdles at the EuropeanAthletics Championship in Barcelona in July. 

Lottery Madness

Lottery mania hit Bulgaria and its neighboring countries in the summer. Two big jackpots of BGN 6,5 M and BGN 4,8 M were hit in June and September, respectively. However, the jackpot of BGN 6,5 M was not requested by the winner and the sum was divided among the State Lottery and the Bulgarian Sports Ministry.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!