Bulgaria - Belarus. Before the match

The national team is preparing for the second friendly match in 2020 against the team of Bulgaria.

Tonight our team tested the pitch of the Waci Levski Stadium. The training included a standard set of pre-game exercises. Maxim Skavysh had to miss a training session due to a cold, while all the other sixteen were involved.

The national team of Bulgaria takes 59th place in the FIFA ranking and is preparing to compete for a place in the UEFA European Championship 2020. In March, our opponent will play the playoffs against Hungary.

The upcoming match will be the eighth in the history between the national teams of Belarus and Bulgaria. The teams first met at an international friendly match in 2000. Southerners had a confident home victory 4:1. Vadim Skripchenko scored a goal for Belarus. Then the teams got into the same qualification group of the 2008 UEFA European Championship. The opponent took maximum points, winning in Minsk with a score of 2:0, and then in Sofia - 2:1. Roman Vasilyuk scored for Belarus, and Dimitar Berbatov was the main star of the opponent team. A series of three defeats was interrupted only in 2011. The goal of Sergei Kislyak pleased the fans at the Dynamo Minsk Stadium, and made it possible to achieve a minimal victory. The fifth match was played in the capital of Bulgaria in early 2014. The hosts again won 2:1, our goal was scored by Sergei Krivets. In November 2016, the Bulgarians gained their fifth victory over the Belarusians, winning 1:0 in Sofia in the FIFA World Cup qualification match in 2018. The return game took place at the Borisov Arena in June 2017 and ended in a 2:1 victory for Belarusians. A score was opened from the penalty spot by Mikhail Sivakov, and towards the end of the match Pavel Savitsky doubled the lead, scoring one of the most beautiful goals in the history of the national team.

The paths of our countries have repeatedly crossed at the club level. In the 2008/09 season of the UEFA Champions League, BATE Borisov defeated Bulgarian Levski and for the first time in history made it to the group stage of the most prestigious club football tournament on the planet. The "yellow and blue" achieved a minimum victory abroad and the home match ended with a score of 1:1.

In the UEFA Europa League (UEFA Cup) of the 1988/1989 season, Dynamo Minsk was stronger than Trakia football club from Plovdiv. Then the victory was won at guests 2: 1 and a goalless draw at home. Ten years later Bobruisk Belshina let the Sofia CSKA in the next round of the same tournament. In Belarus, the viewers did not see any goals scored, and the game in Bulgaria ended with a score of 3:1 in favor of the hosts. In the 2001/2002 season draw, CSKA Sofia knocked out the Soligorsk Shakhtar, after two victories: 2:1 and 3:1. A year later, Minsk Dynamo suffered the same fate. The capital-based club lost to the Bulgarian team 1:4 at home and 0:1 away. Then, in the 2009/2010 season, BATE faced the Bulgarian Litex, and they managed to improve the statistics. After a minimal defeat at home, the Belarusian champion defeated opponent 4:0 on the road. The most recent confrontation dates from the season 2015/2016, when Dynamo Minsk won the Cherno More. After a draw in Varna 1:1, the Dynamo confidently won at home 4: 0.

In the UEFA Cup Cup, which ceased to exist, only one confrontation was recorded in the distant 1988/1989 season. Already familiar to us, “Levski” did not leave a chance to “Lokomotiv-96” (Vitebsk), defeating 8: 1 in the first match. The return match could not change much and ended in a draw 1:1.

Yegor Hatkevich, Alexander Poznyak, Roman Vegerya, Nikita Stepanov, Sergey Volkov and Roman Yuzepchuk may have their debut in our squad. The upcoming match Bulgaria - Belarus will be held at the Vasil Levski stadium in Sofia and will begin at 18.00 Belarusian time.