COMEDY IN BULGARIAN football last week, as Arda Kardzhali held a minute’s silence before Sunday’s league game with Levski Sofia to mourn ex-player Petko Ganchev who, on closer inspection, transpired to be very much alive.
So if anyone in Bulgaria is now minded to make more attentive checks for signs of life, they will find few in this week’s Uefa Nations League promotion-relegation play-off with Ireland, set to be played out in Plovdiv tonight to mass national apathy.
The team have moved to the 18,000-seater Stadion Hristo Botev in Plovidv as they have lost the public of Sofia, but there are only around 5,000 tickets sold for tonight’s first leg – and a thousand of those belong to travelling Irish fans.
This is partly down to Bulgaria’s long slide into European irrelevance – last seen at a major tournament in 2004 – but also down to Uefa’s latest adjunct to the Nations League. Third place used to be enough to guarantee safety, but this time around Ireland must play-off over two legs against a League C runner-up to stay up.
Bulgaria came out of the hat last year and Heimir Hallgrimsson said the draw might have been worse and it might have been better. A quick glance at Bulgaria’s recent results and one stands out: a 5-0 hammering to Northern Ireland in Belfast. Hallgrimsson, however, has taken every chance he can get to point out that this result is an outlier.
“They conceded five goals but they were missing five players, missed a penalty and hit the crossbar, it was a day off for them,” surmised the Irish boss. Otherwise their results last year are a study in binary banality. All finished either goalless or 1-0, and Hallgrimsson is thus forecasting an opposition that will be difficult to break down.
Ilian Iliev took over at the end of 2023, after an appalling run of results that included a 2-0 home defeat to Lithuania. They are now journeying back from rock bottom: Iliev immediately presided over 2-2 draws against Serbia and Hungary and last year leaned into the mantra of Hard to Beat. In the nine games they played outside of the Northern Ireland defeat last year, Bulgaria kept six clean sheets.
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That has come at the cost of attacking output – Bulgaria didn’t score more than once in any of their games last year – and given Ireland often feel miscast as any night’s protagonists, we might be in for a fairly dreary night’s entertainment.
This game would have been freighted with extra meaning had Northern Ireland remained in the running to co-host Euro 2028, with a lower Nations League ranking potentially impacting Ireland’s backdoor to qualification. But Keir Starmer has taken away that jeopardy from this week by pulling the funding for Casement Park, and so Ireland are merely playing for their League B status. Given our wretched record across multiple editions of League B, is it really worth staying up?
“My thoughts are we need to play good opponents day in and day out to develop as a team, that’s why League B is important for us,” was Hallgrimsson’s take on the stakes this week.
Of more significance is the World Cup campaign later this year. It’s going to be a sprint: the whole group will be played off across the September, October, and November windows, and this week offers the last meaningful chance for Ireland to build any confidence ahead of the defining games of the manager’s tenure.
Years of defeats have left an emotional toll on a young squad, and Hallgrimsson attributed the second-half collapse at Wembley to Ireland’s flimsy levels of self-belief. Beating a side of a slightly lower level across two legs is the only means of building those confidence levels back up, even if the tie is set up to mean that Ireland have only second-tier status to lose, and nothing material to gain.
Hallgrimsson wants to build a hierarchy in his squad and develop a clear starting XI, but international football is a volatile thing. His squad this week shows a massive 11 changes from his November selection, and while he is casting rule over Rocco Vata and James Abankwah with a view to the World Cup qualifiers, he insists both are ready to play this week if called upon.
Hallgrimsson spoke with great enthusiasm for teenager Vata, though it would be a major shock if he were to start. There is an opening, though, as with Chiedozie Ogbene and Festy Ebosele injured, Ireland are sorely lacking width and pace in wide areas. Circumstances have conspired to the point we may see a return to a recognisable back three/five, even if Ireland have occasionally looked like a back three in possession under Hallgrimsson, most notably away to Finland.
Given the need to secure a result, Nathan Collins is likely to revert to centre-back from his midfield role against England – though it would be fascinating to see how he would fare in midfield against an opponent likely to cede possession to Ireland. With Robbie Brady likely to play down the left flank, Jake O’Brien and Jimmy Dunne will battle it out to play to the right of the defence. There will also surely be a spot for Dara O’Shea, too.
Josh Cullen and Jason Knight are mainstays of the Irish midfield, while Finn Azaz’ creativity is highly prized by Hallgrimsson.
“His strength is finding spaces; finding these gaps, creating chances, scoring goals, and he has been on fire of late for Middlesbrough,” said Hallgrimsson of Azaz, who has hit double figures for goals and assists already this season.
Hallgrimsson says he has no qualms starting Evan Ferguson despite his meagre game-time for West Ham: Ferguson is yet to start for his new club and hasn’t completed a 90 minutes since October. Troy Parrott, meanwhile, has surely done enough at AZ Alkmaar to earn a starting spot for Ireland.
Bulgaria’s primary threat is PAOK attacker Kiril Despodov, who insisted yesterday the squad are unfazed by the chaos in which they are engulfed. The same week as Hallgrimsson was responding to claims of a “disconnect” with national league managers, Iliev tabled his resignation following a revolt from clubs over his double-jobbing as manager of top-flight club Cherno More.
The Bulgarian FA have rejected his offer, and so he continues in the role this week. They are likely to set up in a doughty 4-2-3-1 and try to pick off Ireland on the counter-attack: the Windsor Park hammering came after a doomed flirtation with a more attacking 4-3-3.
These are two sides who have responded to low points by embracing the Hard To Beat philosophy, and with a second leg to come on Sunday for a prize many are asking is even worthwhile, don’t expect fireworks tonight.
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Expect a slog as Ireland bid to avoid relegation in low-key Bulgarian play-off
COMEDY IN BULGARIAN football last week, as Arda Kardzhali held a minute’s silence before Sunday’s league game with Levski Sofia to mourn ex-player Petko Ganchev who, on closer inspection, transpired to be very much alive.
So if anyone in Bulgaria is now minded to make more attentive checks for signs of life, they will find few in this week’s Uefa Nations League promotion-relegation play-off with Ireland, set to be played out in Plovdiv tonight to mass national apathy.
The team have moved to the 18,000-seater Stadion Hristo Botev in Plovidv as they have lost the public of Sofia, but there are only around 5,000 tickets sold for tonight’s first leg – and a thousand of those belong to travelling Irish fans.
This is partly down to Bulgaria’s long slide into European irrelevance – last seen at a major tournament in 2004 – but also down to Uefa’s latest adjunct to the Nations League. Third place used to be enough to guarantee safety, but this time around Ireland must play-off over two legs against a League C runner-up to stay up.
Bulgaria came out of the hat last year and Heimir Hallgrimsson said the draw might have been worse and it might have been better. A quick glance at Bulgaria’s recent results and one stands out: a 5-0 hammering to Northern Ireland in Belfast. Hallgrimsson, however, has taken every chance he can get to point out that this result is an outlier.
“They conceded five goals but they were missing five players, missed a penalty and hit the crossbar, it was a day off for them,” surmised the Irish boss. Otherwise their results last year are a study in binary banality. All finished either goalless or 1-0, and Hallgrimsson is thus forecasting an opposition that will be difficult to break down.
Ilian Iliev took over at the end of 2023, after an appalling run of results that included a 2-0 home defeat to Lithuania. They are now journeying back from rock bottom: Iliev immediately presided over 2-2 draws against Serbia and Hungary and last year leaned into the mantra of Hard to Beat. In the nine games they played outside of the Northern Ireland defeat last year, Bulgaria kept six clean sheets.
That has come at the cost of attacking output – Bulgaria didn’t score more than once in any of their games last year – and given Ireland often feel miscast as any night’s protagonists, we might be in for a fairly dreary night’s entertainment.
This game would have been freighted with extra meaning had Northern Ireland remained in the running to co-host Euro 2028, with a lower Nations League ranking potentially impacting Ireland’s backdoor to qualification. But Keir Starmer has taken away that jeopardy from this week by pulling the funding for Casement Park, and so Ireland are merely playing for their League B status. Given our wretched record across multiple editions of League B, is it really worth staying up?
“My thoughts are we need to play good opponents day in and day out to develop as a team, that’s why League B is important for us,” was Hallgrimsson’s take on the stakes this week.
Of more significance is the World Cup campaign later this year. It’s going to be a sprint: the whole group will be played off across the September, October, and November windows, and this week offers the last meaningful chance for Ireland to build any confidence ahead of the defining games of the manager’s tenure.
Years of defeats have left an emotional toll on a young squad, and Hallgrimsson attributed the second-half collapse at Wembley to Ireland’s flimsy levels of self-belief. Beating a side of a slightly lower level across two legs is the only means of building those confidence levels back up, even if the tie is set up to mean that Ireland have only second-tier status to lose, and nothing material to gain.
Hallgrimsson wants to build a hierarchy in his squad and develop a clear starting XI, but international football is a volatile thing. His squad this week shows a massive 11 changes from his November selection, and while he is casting rule over Rocco Vata and James Abankwah with a view to the World Cup qualifiers, he insists both are ready to play this week if called upon.
Hallgrimsson spoke with great enthusiasm for teenager Vata, though it would be a major shock if he were to start. There is an opening, though, as with Chiedozie Ogbene and Festy Ebosele injured, Ireland are sorely lacking width and pace in wide areas. Circumstances have conspired to the point we may see a return to a recognisable back three/five, even if Ireland have occasionally looked like a back three in possession under Hallgrimsson, most notably away to Finland.
Given the need to secure a result, Nathan Collins is likely to revert to centre-back from his midfield role against England – though it would be fascinating to see how he would fare in midfield against an opponent likely to cede possession to Ireland. With Robbie Brady likely to play down the left flank, Jake O’Brien and Jimmy Dunne will battle it out to play to the right of the defence. There will also surely be a spot for Dara O’Shea, too.
Josh Cullen and Jason Knight are mainstays of the Irish midfield, while Finn Azaz’ creativity is highly prized by Hallgrimsson.
“His strength is finding spaces; finding these gaps, creating chances, scoring goals, and he has been on fire of late for Middlesbrough,” said Hallgrimsson of Azaz, who has hit double figures for goals and assists already this season.
Hallgrimsson says he has no qualms starting Evan Ferguson despite his meagre game-time for West Ham: Ferguson is yet to start for his new club and hasn’t completed a 90 minutes since October. Troy Parrott, meanwhile, has surely done enough at AZ Alkmaar to earn a starting spot for Ireland.
Bulgaria’s primary threat is PAOK attacker Kiril Despodov, who insisted yesterday the squad are unfazed by the chaos in which they are engulfed. The same week as Hallgrimsson was responding to claims of a “disconnect” with national league managers, Iliev tabled his resignation following a revolt from clubs over his double-jobbing as manager of top-flight club Cherno More.
The Bulgarian FA have rejected his offer, and so he continues in the role this week. They are likely to set up in a doughty 4-2-3-1 and try to pick off Ireland on the counter-attack: the Windsor Park hammering came after a doomed flirtation with a more attacking 4-3-3.
These are two sides who have responded to low points by embracing the Hard To Beat philosophy, and with a second leg to come on Sunday for a prize many are asking is even worthwhile, don’t expect fireworks tonight.
Ireland (Possible XI): Kelleher; Doherty; O’Brien, Collins, O’Shea; Brady; Cullen, Knight, Azaz; Parrott, Ferguson
On TV: RTE Two; KO: 7.45pm
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