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Hristo Stoichkov alternatively spelt Stoitchkov (Bulgarian: Христо Стоичков) (born February 8, 1966, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a football manager and former striker who was a member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Apart from his footballing talent, he was notable for his on-pitch temper. He was honoured as European Footballer of the Year in 1994. He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony in 2004. is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Plovdiv (Bulgarian: ) is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, with a population of 341,873([1]). It is the administrative centre of Plovdiv Province in southern Bulgaria, as well as the largest and most important city of the historical region of Upper (or Northern) Thrace, famous for its... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... The striker (wearing the red shirt) has run past the defender (in the white shirt) and is about to take a shot at the goal, while the goalkeeper positions himself to attempt to stop the ball. ... First international  Austria 6 - 0 Bulgaria (Vienna, Austria; 21 May 1924) Biggest win Bulgaria 7 - 0 Norway  (Sofia, Bulgaria, 1957) Bulgaria 7 - 0 Thailand  (Mexico City, Mexico; October, 1968 Bulgaria 7 - 0 Malta  (Sofia, Bulgaria; 14 October 1982) Biggest defeat  Spain 13 - 0 Bulgaria (Madrid, Spain; 21 May 1933) World... Qualifying countries The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. ... The Ballon dOr trophy, as awarded to Zinedine Zidane in 1998. ... “Pele” redirects here. ... Pelé The FIFA 100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelés choice of the greatest living footballers. Unveiled on March 4, 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the F... The International Federation of Football Association (French: ), commonly known by its acronym, FIFA, is the international governing body of association football. ...

Playing style

Stoichkov played as a left attacker/winger. He was known for his explosive acceleration and speed dribbling, and for taking unpredictable shots on goal. He was also notable at taking free kicks and penalties. He gained much popularity because of his aggressive temper on the pitch. He could often be seen arguing with the referee, or with his opponents. He is currently being sued by a former American University college student whose leg he broke in a violent tackle. The student's coach called Stoichkov's challenge "criminal". Ray Hudson, who coached DC United for whom Stoichkov played at the time, called it a "rash tackle". Following an investigation by MLS, Stoichkov was suspended two games and fined $2,000.^[1] A free-kick in football describes the situation where a player on the opposing team has committed a foul, and you are given the ball to play from the position where the offence took place. ... Bonaventure Kalou of the Ivory Coast takes a penalty against Dragoslav Jevrić of S&M during the 2006 World Cup. ... For other universities known as American University, see American University (disambiguation). ... Ray Hudson (born March 24, 1955 in Gateshead, England), the son of a toolmaker and a seamstress, is a (retired) professional football (soccer) player and coach. ... Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada. ...

Club career

Stoichkov began his career in his hometown, moving to Hebros (Harmanli) in 1984. The next year he went to CSKA Sofia. There he was involved in a fight during the final of Bulgarian Cup which resulted in his suspension. After he was brought back to football, he managed to win the European Golden Boot with CSKA by scoring 38 goals in 30 games. He then moved on to Barcelona, Parma, and finally finishing his career in Japan with Kashiwa Reysol and the United States with the Chicago Fire and D.C. United, as a coach. PFC CSKA Sofia is the football club of the CSKA sports club of Sofia, Bulgaria, founded on May 5, 1948. ... The Bulgarian Cup (Bulgarian: ) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. ... PFC CSKA Sofia is the football club of the CSKA sports club of Sofia, Bulgaria, founded on May 5, 1948. ... Futbol Club Barcelona, known familiarly as Barça (IPA: baɾ.sə), is a sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. ... Parma Football Club (formerly Parma Associazione Calcio) is an Italian football club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, nicknamed Ducali (The Duchy Men), Crociati (Crusaders) and Gialloblu (Yellow-Blues). ... Kashiwa Reysol ) is a J. League team. ... Year founded 1997 League Major League Soccer Nickname La Maquina Roja, Men in Red, CF97 Stadium Toyota Park Bridgeview, IL Coach Juan Carlos Osorio[1] Owner AEG First Game Miami Fusion 0–2 Chicago Fire (Lockhart Stadium; March 21, 1998) Largest Win Kansas City Wizards 0–7 Chicago Fire (Arrowhead... Year founded 1995 League Major League Soccer Nickname United, Black-and-Red, The Men in Black Stadium RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. Coach Tom Soehn, 2006— Owner D.C. United Holdings First Game San Jose Clash 1–0 D.C. United (Spartan Stadium; April 6, 1996) Largest Win D.C...

Barcelona

As part of Johan Cruijff's 'Dream Team', Stoichkov helped Barcelona to the most successful era of the club, winning the Primera Division four years in a row between 1991 and 1994 and the UEFA Champions League after defeating Sampdoria in 1992. During his stay in Barcelona, he had become an idol for the club's fans, and was Barca's most popular player at the time, having earned a place in the supporters' hearts much like Johan Neeskens and Diego Maradona in the past, and later Ronaldinho. Hendrik Johannes Cruijff ( ) - often spelled Cruyff outside the Netherlands; see IJ (digraph)); born April 25, 1947 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch football manager/coach and former player. ... The UEFA Champions League (also known as the European Cup, UCL, CE1, C1[1] or CL) is a seasonal club football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955 for the most successful football clubs in Europe. ... Categories: Football (soccer) stubs | Italian football clubs ... Johannes (Johan) Jacobus Neeskens (born September 15, 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. ... Diego Armando Maradona (born October 30, 1960) is an Argentine former footballer. ... For other persons named Ronaldinho, see Ronaldinho (disambiguation). ...

In his first season with the club Stoichkov was suspended for two months for stomping on a referee's foot,^[2] but he still netted 14 league goals and six more in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The UEFA Cup Winners Cup (also known as the European Cup Winners Cup) was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. ...

In 1994 he was named European Footballer of the Year after leading his national side to the 1994 World Cup semifinals.-1...

In 1997 he helped Barcelona win the Spanish Super Cup, Copa del Rey and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The Supercopa de España (Spanish Super Cup) is a Spanish football trophy created in 1982, played by the winners of the First Division and the Copa del Rey (Kings Cup). ... The Copa del Rey is an annual cup competition for Spanish football teams. ... The season 1996-97 of the European Cup Winners Cup was won by FC Barcelona after beating holders Paris Saint-Germain in the final. ...

National team

At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Stoichkov was awarded the Golden Boot as the joint top goal scorer of the tournament (with Oleg Salenko), with six goals. He led Bulgaria past Germany to the semi finals, where they lost 2-1 to Italy. They subsequently lost the 3rd place play-off to Sweden, 4-0. Qualifying countries The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. ... The World Cup Golden Boot is the award given to the top goalscorer in the FIFA World Cup. ... Oleg Salenko (born October 25, 1969 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a Russian soccer striker, who set a World Cup record by scoring five goals in one game, for Russia against Cameroon on June 28, 1994. ...

Bulgaria finished second in the qualifying group for Euro 96 after the first place was taken by the eventual winners, Germany. Stoichkov scored 10 goals for his team during the qualifiers, as Bulgaria qualified as one of the best 6 runners-up. In the first match against Germany in Sofia 3-2, Bulgaria were 2-0 down at half-time. Stoichkov equalized with two goals from penalties and Emil Kostadinov also scored for a 3-2 win. Bulgaria lost the second match in Germany 3-1.-1... Emil Kostadinov (born August 12, 1967 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian football striker. ...

During the finals, Bulgaria lost 3-1 in the decisive group match against a very strong France side (the future World Champions); at the same time, in the other match, Spain won 2-1 late on against Romania and so the Bulgarians went out. In that tournament Stoichkov scored 3 goals in 3 matches, and another goal against Spain was disallowed for offside, though action replays show that he was actually on-side. Stoitchkov was the only player to score from a free kick (against France) in this tournament.

He was also part of the squad that was eliminated in the first round of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Bulgaria wasn't nearly as strong as in previous years, and scored only one goal in the tournament (by Kostadinov), in a 6-1 defeat by Spain. Qualifying countries The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th staging of the World Cup, was held in France from June 10 to July 12 after 60 years to celebrate the third edition scheduled in 1938. ... Emil Kostadinov (born August 12, 1967 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian football striker. ...

Stoichkov retired from internationals in 1999 with 37 goals in 83 appearances. Subsequently he was the coach of the Bulgarian national team from 2004 to April 2007. This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

Honours

Club

• CSKA Sofia
  • Bulgarian League: 1987, 1989, 1990
  • Bulgarian Cup: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989
  • Bulgarian Supercup: 1989
• FC Barcelona
  • Spanish League: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
  • Spanish Super Cup: 1991, 1992, 1994
  • European Cup (now called: UEFA Champions League): 1992
  • European Super Cup: 1992, 1997
  • Copa del Rey: 1997
  • UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1997
• Al-Nassr
  • Asian Cup Winners Cup: 1998
• Chicago Fire
  • U.S. Open Cup: 2000

Image File history File links Flag_of_Bulgaria. ... PFC CSKA Sofia is the football club of the CSKA sports club of Sofia, Bulgaria, founded on May 5, 1948. ... The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group (А Професионална футболна група) or A PFG (А ПФГ) is the top division of Bulgarian football. ... The Bulgarian Cup (Bulgarian: ) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. ... The Bulgarian Supercup (Bulgarian: ) is an annually held football match between the football club that has won the Bulgarian A Professional Football Group and the club that has won the Bulgarian Cup. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Futbol Club Barcelona, known familiarly as Barça (IPA: baɾ.sÉ™), is a sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. ... (Professional Football League), commonly known as La Liga and also known as Primera División, is the professional football league in Spain. ... The Supercopa de España (Spanish Super Cup) is a Spanish football trophy created in 1982, played by the winners of the First Division and the Copa del Rey (Kings Cup). ... The history of the European Cup and Champions League is long and remarkable, with fifty years of competition finding winners and losers from all parts of the continent. ... The UEFA Champions League (also known as the European Cup, UCL, CE1, C1[1] or CL) is a seasonal club football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955 for the most successful football clubs in Europe. ... The European Super Cup (UEFA Super Cup) is at stake in an annual football game between the reigning champions of the UEFA Cup(formally UEFA Cup Winners Cup) and the Champions League. ... The Copa del Rey is an annual cup competition for Spanish football teams. ... The Cup Winners Cup was a football club competition between the winners of the European domestic cup competitions. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Egypt. ... Leading socccer club in Saudi Arabia. ... The Asian Cup Winners Cup was a association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year founded 1997 League Major League Soccer Nickname La Maquina Roja, Men in Red, CF97 Stadium Toyota Park Bridgeview, IL Coach Juan Carlos Osorio[1] Owner AEG First Game Miami Fusion 0–2 Chicago Fire (Lockhart Stadium; March 21, 1998) Largest Win Kansas City Wizards 0–7 Chicago Fire (Arrowhead... The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is an American soccer competition open to all United States Soccer Federation affiliated teams, from amateur adult club teams all the way to the professional teams of Major League Soccer. ...

Individual

• Bulgarian League Top Scorer: 1989, 1990
• European Golden Boot: 1989
• European Footballer of the Year: 1994
• FIFA World Cup 1994 Golden Shoe - Top scorer
• Golden Foot: 2007

In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Bulgaria by the Bulgarian Football Union as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. ^[3] The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group (А Професионална футболна група) or A PFG (А ПФГ) is the top division of Bulgarian football. ... For other uses, see Golden Boot. ... The Ballon dOr trophy, as awarded to Zinedine Zidane in 1998. ... The 1994 Football World Cup held in the USA was won by Brazil who beat Italy 3-2 on penalty kicks after the game and extra time ended 0-0. ... The World Cup Golden Boot is the award given to the top goalscorer in the FIFA World Cup. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... In 2004, when Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) celebrated its 50th anniversary, each member association selected its best player from 1954 to 2003. ... Categories: Football (soccer) stubs | Football (soccer) governing bodies | Bulgarian football ...

Coaching career

In the 2003-04 season, Stoichkov started a coaching career, serving as a forwards coach at Barça. After Bulgarian national team coach Plamen Markov resigned in the wake of the team's first-round exit from Euro 2004, the Bulgarian Football Union named him as the new national team coach on 15 July. Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Plamen Markov (born September 11, 1957 in Sevlievo) is a retired Bulgarian football player, currently working as a football manager. ... The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly called Euro 2004, was held in Portugal between June 12 and July 4, 2004. ... Categories: Football (soccer) stubs | Football (soccer) governing bodies | Bulgarian football ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Stoichkov's coaching career got off to a bad start with him failing to qualify the Bulgarian national team for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He brought his bad temper from his career as a player to the coaching bench. A couple of proven players quit the team due to personal differences with Stoichkov. The most notable scandal was at the 03/09/05 game against Sweden, where he was sent-off for insulting the referee.

The biggest blow to Hristo Stoichkov as a coach of the national team of Bulgaria came on 12/10/2006, when Stiliyan Petrov, the captain of the team, announced he will not play for the team as long as Stoichkov is the coach. ^[4] Petrov is the third player and the second captain in two years to leave the team because of differences with Stoichkov. However, on 17/03/2007 Stiliyan Petrov announced that he had a private conversation with Stoichkov, in which they were able to work their differences out. As a result Petrov would return to the team. ^[5] Stiliyan Petrov (sometimes spelt Stilian Petrov) (Bulgarian: ) (born July 5, 1979 in Montana) is a Bulgarian football player who currently plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League. ... Captain is a rank or title with various meanings. ... Stiliyan Petrov (sometimes spelt Stilian Petrov) (Bulgarian: ) (born July 5, 1979 in Montana) is a Bulgarian football player who currently plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League. ...

On April 10, 2007, the Bulgarian Football Union announced they had accepted the resignation of Hristo Stoichkov from the post of national coach. That was as a result of the poor performance of the team at the current Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, followed by widely spread criticism and debate over the qualities of the coach. He has since taken over as Manager at Celta de Vigo.^[6] Categories: Football (soccer) stubs | Football (soccer) governing bodies | Bulgarian football ... Real Club Celta de Vigo is a Spanish football team from Vigo in Galicia. ...

References

External links

• The Official Site of Hristo Stoichkov
• Stoichkov Profile, stats and news
• A photo album dedicated to Hristo Stoichkov
• UEFA.com - Golden Player of Bulgaria

Awards
Preceded by Lyuboslav Penev	Bulgarian Footballer of the Year 1989 – 1992	Succeeded by Emil Kostadinov
Preceded by Emil Kostadinov	Bulgarian Footballer of the Year 1994	Succeeded by Krasimir Balakov
Preceded by Roberto Baggio	European Footballer of the Year 1994	Succeeded by George Weah
Preceded by Salvatore Schillaci	FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe 1994 Shared with: Oleg Salenko	Succeeded by Davor Šuker
Sporting positions
Preceded by Plamen Markov	Bulgaria national football team manager 2004 – 2007	Succeeded by Stanimir Stoilov

v • d • e Bulgaria squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place
	1 Mikhailov • 2 Kremenliev • 3 Ivanov • 4 Tsvetanov • 5 Houbchev • 6 Yankov • 7 Kostadinov • 8 Stoichkov • 9 Letchkov • 10 Sirakov • 11 Borimirov • 12 Nikolov • 13 Yordanov • 14 Guentchev • 15 Iliev • 16 Kiriakov • 17 Mihtarski • 18 Aleksandrov • 19 Georgiev • 20 Balakov • 21 Yotov • 22 Andonov • Coach: Penev

v • d • e Bulgaria squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
	1 Zdravkov • 2 Kishishev • 3 T. Ivanov • 4 I. Petkov • 5 Yordanov • 6 Yankov • 7 Kostadinov • 8 Stoichkov • 9 Penev • 10 Balakov • 11 Iliev • 12 Mikhailov • 13 Ginchev • 14 Hristov • 15 Zafirov • 16 Nankov • 17 Stoilov • 18 Borimirov • 19 Bachev • 20 G. Ivanov • 21 Kirilov • 22 M. Petkov • Coach: Bonev