UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE - 2018/19 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski - Sofia Monday 19 November 2018 Bulgaria 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Slovenia Group C3 - Matchday 6 Last updated 29/11/2018 20:14CET Previous meetings 2 Squad list 3 Head coach 5 Match officials 6 Competition facts 7 Match-by-match lineups 10 Legend 12 1 Bulgaria - Slovenia Monday 19 November 2018 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski, Sofia Previous meetings Head to Head UEFA Nations League Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached 06/09/2018 GS-FT Slovenia - Bulgaria 1-2 Ljubljana Zajc 40; Kraev 3, 59 UEFA EURO 2008 Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached Georgiev 82, 21/11/2007 QR (GS) Slovenia - Bulgaria 0-2 Celje Berbatov 84 Bozhinov 58, 06/09/2006 QR (GS) Bulgaria - Slovenia 3-0 Sofia M.Petrov 73, Telkiyski 80 Final Qualifying Total tournament Home Away Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Total Bulgaria 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 3 0 0 7 1 Slovenia 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 3 1 7 2 Bulgaria - Slovenia Monday 19 November 2018 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski, Sofia Squad list Bulgaria League phase No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Goalkeepers Slavia 1 Georgi Petkov 14/03/1976 42 - 1 0 Sofia Cherno 13 Blagoy Makendzhiev 11/07/1988 30 - 0 0 More 23 Dimitar Evtimov 07/09/1993 25 Burton - 0 0 Defenders 2 Strahil Popov 31/08/1990 28 Kasımpaşa - 3 0 3 Petar Zanev 18/10/1985 33 Yenisey - 2 0 CSKA- 4 Bozhidar Chorbadzhiyski 08/08/1995 23 - 3 0 Sofia CSKA- 5 Nikolay Bodurov 30/05/1986 32 - 5 0 Sofia 11 Ivan Bandalovski 23/11/1986 31 Beroe - 3 0 12 Aleksandar Tsvetkov 31/08/1990 28 Beroe - 0 0 14 Anton Nedyalkov 30/04/1993 25 Ludogorets - 2 0 Slovan 15 Vasil Bozhikov 02/06/1988 30 - 4 0 Bratislava 21 Kamen Hadzhiev 22/09/1991 27 Beroe - 0 0 Midfielders 6 Simeon Slavchev 25/09/1993 25 Qarabağ - 4 0 Arsenal 7 Georgi Kostadinov 07/09/1990 28 - 5 0 Tula Spartak 10 Ivelin Popov 26/10/1987 31 - 5 0 Moskva CSKA- 16 Kristiyan Malinov 30/03/1994 24 - 2 0 Sofia Slavia 18 Galin Ivanov 15/04/1988 30 - 2 0 Sofia 20 Martin Rainov 25/04/1992 26 Beroe - 2 0 Forwards 8 Svetoslav Kovachev 14/03/1998 20 Dunav - 0 0 9 Spas Delev 22/09/1989 29 Pogoń - 1 0 17 Stanislav Kostov 02/10/1991 27 Levski - 1 0 Cherno 19 Radoslav Vasilev 12/10/1990 28 - 3 1 More 22 Nikolay Dimitrov 15/10/1987 31 Ural - 1 1 Coach - Petar Houbchev 26/02/1964 54 - 5 0 3 Bulgaria - Slovenia Monday 19 November 2018 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski, Sofia Slovenia League phase No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Goalkeepers 1 Vid Belec 06/06/1990 28 Sampdoria - 5 0 12 Matic Kotnik 23/07/1990 28 Panionios - 0 0 16 Grega Sorčan 05/03/1996 22 Gorica - 0 0 Defenders 2 Nejc Skubic 13/06/1989 29 Konyaspor - 4 1 3 Jure Balkovec 09/09/1994 24 Verona - 1 0 Dinamo 4 Petar Stojanović 07/10/1995 23 - 1 0 Zagreb 5 Aljaž Struna 04/08/1990 28 Palermo - 2 0 13 Miha Blažič 08/05/1993 25 Ferencváros - 1 0 14 Andraž Struna 23/04/1989 29 Anorthosis - 1 0 17 Miha Mevlja 12/06/1990 28 Zenit - 5 0 23 Luka Krajnc 19/09/1994 24 Frosinone - 1 0 Midfielders 6 Rajko Rotman 19/03/1989 29 Kayserispor - 1 0 7 Josip Iličić 29/01/1988 30 Atalanta - 2 0 8 Amir Dervišević 04/07/1992 26 Maribor - 4 0 CSKA 9 Jaka Bijol 05/02/1999 19 - 2 0 Moskva 10 Miha Zajc 01/07/1994 24 Empoli - 5 1 20 Rudi Vancaš Požeg 15/03/1994 24 Celje - 0 0 Dynamo 21 Benjamin Verbič 27/11/1993 24 - 3 1 Kyiv 22 Leo Štulac 26/09/1994 24 Parma - 2 0 Forwards 11 Roman Bezjak 21/02/1989 29 Jagiellonia - 5 0 18 Luka Zahović 15/11/1995 23 Maribor - 1 0 19 Robert Berić 17/06/1991 27 St-Étienne - 3 1 Coach - Igor Benedejčič 28/07/1969 49 - 1 0 4 Bulgaria - Slovenia Monday 19 November 2018 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski, Sofia Head coach Petar Hubchev Date of birth: 26 February 1964 Nationality: Bulgarian Playing career: Osum Lovech, Levski Sofia, Hamburg, Eintracht Frankfurt Coaching career: Slavia Sofia, Eintracht Frankfurt II, Wolfsburg II, Chernomorets Pomorie, Botev Plovdiv, Beroe Stara Zagora • Made debut for Bulgaria while playing in the second tier in a friendly against Greece in 1984, the first of 35 caps. Hubchev was one of the mainstays of the great Bulgaria side that reached the 1994 FIFA World Cup semi-finals. He also played at EURO '96. • Hubchev came through the ranks of Osum Lovech (now known as Litex Lovech). He was a right-back before establishing himself as a central defender. • In 1989 he moved to Levski, winning the league and cup double in 1993 before departing at the end of that year for Hamburg. In 1996 he moved on to Eintracht, helping them back to the Bundesliga. • Hubchev began his coaching career as an assistant at Eintracht in 2001 and also served on the staff of the Bulgarian national team. After a six-month stint as head coach at Slavia Sofia in 2005 he returned to Germany for spells with the reserve sides of Eintracht and Wolfsburg. • In 2009 he was back in Bulgaria at Chernomorets Pomorie, guiding the second division side to the cup final in his first season. Following a brief spell at Botev Plovdiv he had four seasons at Beroe Stara Zagora, leading them to victory in the Bulgarian Cup in 2012/13 and second place in the league two years later. On 3 October 2016, six months after leaving Beroe, Hubchev succeeded Ivaylo Petev as Bulgaria coach. Igor Benedejčić Date of birth: 28 July 1969 Nationality: Slovenian Playing career: Koper (twice), Olimpija Ljubljana, Rijeka, Korotan Prevalje Coaching career: IB Ljubljana, Slovenia Under-17, Slovenia Under-18 & 19, Slovenia (interim) • A native of Koper in south-western Slovenia, Benedejčić began and ended his playing career with his hometown club (1991–92 and 1999–2004), making his name in between at Olimpija Ljubljana. • Earned the distinction of scoring the first ever goal for the Slovenian national team – a 73rd-minute equaliser against Estonia in a Tallinn friendly on 3 June 1992 – and went on to accumulate a further seven caps for his country (but no more goals) over the next six years. • Won the Slovenian title in each of his first three seasons at Olimpija, adding domestic cup triumphs in 1993 and 1996. In total he made 103 league appearances for the Ljubljana club, scoring 20 goals, and also played in prestigious European games at AC Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt. • Spent 18 months in Croatia at Rijeka before returning to Slovenian football, firstly with Korotan Prevalje then, to see out his career, with Koper. • Took his first coaching job at Slovenian top-flight side IB Ljubljana in September 2008 but was dismissed in October the following year. Resurfaced in the youth sector of the Slovenian federation and was appointed as interim head coach to oversee Slovenia's final two UEFA Nations League fixtures in November 2018 following the departure of Tomaž Kavčić. 5 Bulgaria - Slovenia Monday 19 November 2018 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski, Sofia Match officials Referee Hüseyin Göçek (TUR) Assistant referees Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR) , Kemal Yilmaz (TUR) Additional assistant referees Mete Kalkavan (TUR) , Suat Arslanboga (TUR) Fourth official Bayık Erdem (TUR) UEFA Delegate Roland Tis (BEL) UEFA Referee observer Boško Jovanetić (SRB) Referee Name Date of birth UEFA matches Hüseyin Göçek 30/11/1976 0 63 UEFA Nations League matches between the two teams No such matches refereed Other matches involving teams from either of the two countries involved in this match Stage Date Competition Home Away Result Venue reached 26/07/2018 UEL 2QR NK Rudar Velenje FCSB 0-2 Velenje 23/08/2018 UEL PO FC Torpedo Kutaisi PFC Ludogorets 1945 0-1 Tbilisi 6 Bulgaria - Slovenia Monday 19 November 2018 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski, Sofia Competition facts What is the background to the UEFA Nations League? The rejuvenation of national team football – and the UEFA Nations League – stems from the desire of UEFA and its 55 member associations to improve the quality and standing of national team football. UEFA and its associations wanted more sporting meaning in national team football, with associations, coaches, players and supporters increasingly of the opinion that friendly matches are not providing adequate competition for national teams. Extensive consultation and discussions started as far back as the 2011 UEFA Strategy Meeting in Cyprus and continued at a series of Top Executive Programme (TEP) meetings over the following three years. The UEFA Nations League was unanimously adopted at the XXXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana on 27 March 2014. What is the basic format? The format of the UEFA Nations League features promotion and relegation.