Bulgaria’s run continues as coach makes mix work
Bulgaria affirmed their status as - whisper it - one of the potential surprise packages among the Men’s teams at the 2025 Oslo Homeless World Cup with a commanding 6-0 victory over Denmark on Day 2 of the competition to follow up their impressive 8-4 win over Argentina on Day 1.
In a gutsy encounter that was full of action, chances and crunching - yet fair - tackles, Bulgaria flew out the traps to go 1-0 up via a great strike into the roof of the net. Backed by a loud support in the stands, Denmark went in search of an equaliser but were met with some solid Bulgaria defending. A quick break saw Bulgaria go two in front with a shot that went in off the bar, before a point-blank save from the Bulgaria keeper helped them maintain their two-goal lead. As half-time approached, a fantastic flicked assist put Bulgaria clean through to make it 3-0.
Into the second half, Denmark’s vocal support were almost rewarded with a goal as they went close with a half volley, before a sustained period of possession saw Bulgaria go 4-0 up. In no time, it was 5-0 thanks to a long-range missile, before the post and then a smart diving save from the Bulgarian keeper denied Denmark the chance to get on the scoresheet. A quick passing move saw Bulgaria register their sixth goal of the game before a Denmark shot went just wide as the final whistle went.
Bulgaria manager Viktor Kirkov said:
“We had 20 days to prepare the team for the Homeless World Cup. I think they took everything they could in those 20 days. We started with a really nice game against Argentina 8-4 and today 6-0 against Denmark. Tomorrow we will play Burkina Faso and the United States and we hope that we finish in first place in the group. We hope we have a good draw for the next group stage and we will try to achieve our goal and compete. We have a strong team this year. Four of the boys are refugees from Ukraine, they are, four of the boys are from Romani neighbourhoods in Bulgaria. It’s an interesting mix but it works.”
Words by Craig Williams | Photos by Anita Milas