Bulgaria takes on Wales in friendly
22.8.07, 11:06 by Novinite.com
Bulgaria's best-known football coach, Dimitar Penev, will begin his second stint in charge of the national team on Wednesday in the friendly against Wales, played in the Black Sea port of Burgas. The man who took the country to fourth place at the '94 World Cup in US returns to the managerial dugout with Bulgaria's qualification for EURO 2008 in the balance.

Penev has made clear he will use the game as a dress rehearsal for next month's decisive trip to Holland and will put forward his strongest line-up.

Kayserispor's Dimitar Ivankov will take his customary place in goal, behind a back four made of Levski's Igor Tomasic and CSKA's Alexandar Tunchev in the centre of defense, while Leicester City's Radostin Kishishev and Levski's Lucio Wagner will start on the flanks.

Penev announced his starting eleven at a news conference on Wednesday and made clear he opted for a 4-3-3 formation, a move prompted by the injury of team captain and star striker Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham.

Two other strikers plying their trade in England - Charlton's Svetoslav Todorov and Manchester City's Valery Bojinov - are also out injured.

Aston Villa's Stiliyan Petrov, Energie Kottbus' Stanislav Anguelov and Dimitar Telkiyski from Levski will line up in midfield, while Manchester City's Martin Petrov and Levski's Hristo Yovov will play on the wings.

Georgi Chilikov from CSKA will play as the lone striker on his return to the team after a five-year absence.

The game in Burgas starts at 8 pm local time.

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