I'm Proud to be Bulgarian, Says Ludogorets Coach

The head coach of Bulgaria's Ludogorets was extremely satisfied after his team sealed a place in the second phase of the Europa League on Thursday night.

The Bulgarian champions from Razgrad drew 1:1 with Ukrainian Chernomorets Odessa, which guaranteed them a place in the 1/16 finals, two rounds before the end of the group stage.

"I feel proud that I'm a coach, and that I'm Bulgarian. For me, this was the most nervous match. I can only imagine what it must have been for the players", revealed Stoycho Stoev after the game.

The coach admitted that the importance of the match may have been the reason behind the team's more cautious attitude, compared to the previous 3 group games.

"We had problems with Zlatinski, Caicara, Minev, and Barthe. It was doubtful whether they could play, but all of them held on to the end, for which I applaud them", concluded Stoev.

Ludogorets will host PSV Eindhoven and travel to Dinamo Zagreb in their last 2 group games, which will decide whether they finish top of their group. The 2nd place would still guarantee them at least two more matches in the spring.

Ludogorets become the first Bulgarian team in 8 seasons to pass the group stages of a European tournament, after Levski and Litex did it in 2005/2006.

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