Germany, the defending champions, were the overwhelming favourites to win the 1994 World Cup. On the other hand, Bulgaria were the underdogs and their World Cup record was somewhat shoddy. The Bulgarians had opened their group stage with a 3-0 defeat to Nigeria, but bounced back to beat previous runners-up Argentina 2-0 to qualify for the knockout stages. After beating Mexico 3-1 on penalties in round of 16, they faced the reigning world champions Germany. The first-half was a cagy affair where the teams were weighing up each other while the Germans, naturally, had better possession of the ball. The second-half started with drama as on the second minute Jurgen Klinsmann was tackled clumsily and brought down inside the Bulgarian penalty box by Iordan Letchkov. True to the expectations, Germany went up 1-0 via a Lothar Mattheus penalty. In the 75th minute, Hristo Stoichkov, was brought down 30 yards outside the German penalty box. Bulgaria were awarded a free-kick and Stoichkov scored the equalizer. Two minutes later, Letchkov scored the winner with a stunning header and the Germans couldn’t come back as Bulgaria qualified for the semifinals. Everyone was stunned!
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 06:07:10 +0000
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