Cruyff, Barça and the Wembley Dream Team – Two Decades On

By Liam Bambridge
Updated: 20 May, 2012

Hristo Stoitchkov

Talking of forceful personalities, they did not come much more combustible than this Bulgarian forward.

His phenomenal goal scoring record at CSKA Sofia attracted the interest of Cruyff and he moved to Spain in the summer of 2000, but within weeks he was watching from the stands for two months having stamped on a referee’s foot in a Supercopa ‘clasico’ encounter (you can see the befor and after here ).

His career peaked in 1994, when he was named European Footballer of the Year, and he eventually ended his career in the US after a rather nomadic five years split between his homeland, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

In 2003 Stoichkov returned to Barcelona as a forwards coach, but it was not long before his national team came calling, a role which he fulfilled largely unsuccessfully and which was predictable punctuated with fallouts with officials and his players, most notably Stiliyan Petrov.

A 0-0 draw against the mighty Albania proved the final straw in 2007, and since then he has experienced more failure with Celta and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns.

However he remains a legend in his home country, which is presumably why Litex Lovech were persuaded to take a chance on him as their new coach in March. Stand by for more tantrums on the touchline.

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