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  2008 World League
 
 BUL / Bulgaria - Team Composition
 
 
Team manager TODOROV Ivan
Head coach STOEV Martin
Assistant coach TODOROV Vladislav
Doctor ZAHARIEV Dinko
Therapist / trainer ISKREV Iskren
Journalist YOVKOV Sacho
 
  No. Name Lastname Shirt Name Birthdate Height Weight Spike Block Club
1 Evgeni Ivanov Ivanov E. 03.06.1974 210 98 351 340 Jastrzebski Wegiel SA
2   Hristo Tsvetanov Tsvetanov 29.03.1978 198 85 345 330 ASUL Lyon
3 Andrey Zhekov Zhekov 12.03.1980 190 82 340 326 Tomis
4   Boyan Yordanov Yordanov 12.03.1983 197 86 358 335 Fonicas
5 Krasimir Gaydarski Gaydarski 23.02.1983 204 96 350 330 SCC Berlin
6   Matey Kaziyski Kaziyski 23.09.1984 203 98 370 335 Al-Rayyan Sports Club
7 Nikolay Nikolov N. Nikolov 29.07.1986 206 97 350 332 Sporting Lisboa
8   Ivan Stanev Stanev 07.07.1985 190 86 335 325 Neftohimik
9 Metodi Ananiev Ananiev 17.02.1986 203 100 363 345 Levski Ball
10   Danail Milushev Milushev 03.02.1984 200 102 360 340 Polisportiva Rinascita Lagoneg
11 Vladimir Nikolov Nikolov V. 03.10.1977 200 95 345 325 ASU Lyon
12   Teodor Bogdanov Bogdanov 29.01.1986 207 90 360 340 Levski Siconco
L 13 Teodor Salparov Salparov 16.08.1982 187 78 320 305 Neftochimik
14   Kostadin Stoykov Stoykov 07.12.1977 199 85 349 329 VC "Nova"
15 Todor Aleksiev Aleksiev 21.04.1983 204 105 355 340 Olympiacos Piraeus
L 16   Martin Penev Penev 29.02.1984 194 95 338 315 Lokomotiv - Izumrud
C 17 Plamen Konstantinov Konstantinov 14.06.1973 202 93 350 330 Iraklis THESSALONIKI
18   Ivan Zarev Zarev 25.06.1986 199 87 341 328 CSKA
19 Tsvetan Sokolov Sokolov 31.12.1989 206 113 365 350 Dinamo Moscow
 C=Captain  L=Libero
Team Profile   Coach Profile

The year 2008 marks the 87th year since Volleyball first arrived in Bulgaria. It all began in 1922 when, for a short time, Volleyball was hugely popular and became one of most practiced sports in Bulgaria.

The first national Volleyball championship was organised in 1942. Now, Bulgaria has more than 111 registered Volleyball clubs and over 5,500 Volleyball players from all age groups.

The Bulgarian Men's team has been participating successfully in World and European Championships, Olympic Games and other international tournaments for almost for 50 years.

Bulgaria finished third in their first appearance in the FIVB World Championship in Prague in 1949. The team also won the bronze medal in the World Championship in Moscow in 1952 and in Paris in 1986. They went one better in Sofia in 1970, claiming the silver medal, and they claimed another bronze medal in the tournament in Japan in 2006.

In the European Championship, Bulgaria landed second place in 1951 in Paris and claimed bronze medals in 1955 in Bucharest, 1981 in Varna, Bulgaria, and 1983 in Berlin.

The Bulgarian Volleyball players were participants in the first Olympic tournament in Tokyo in 1964, where they finished fifth, in Mexico 1968, when they claimed sixth, Munich 1972, taking fourth place, Moscow 1980, when they won the silver medal, Seoul 1988, finishing sixth, and Atlanta 1996, when they settled for seventh position.

Bulgaria's participation in the FIVB World League began in 1994, when they finished in fourth place. In Poland in 2007 they finished fifth.

Meanwhile, in the most recent FIVB World Cup in 2007, the Bulgarians finished in third place, qualifying them for the Beijing Olympics.

There are currently some excellent Volleyball players in the Bulgarian national team with the ones to watch including Plamen Konstantinov, Evgeni Ivanov, Hristo Tsvetanov, alongside good young players such as Matey Kaziyski, Danail Milushev, Andrey Zhekov and Boyan Yordanov.

 

Martin Stoev has been head coach of the Bulgaria Men's national team since 2005. That year, he led the team through qualifying for the 2006 World Championship and to fifth place in the World League.

In 2006, the Bulgarians qualified for the European Championship, finished fourth in the World League and took the Bronze Medal at the World Championship in Japan.

Stoev led the Bulgarians to an eighth-place finished at the European Championship in 2007 and fifth place in the World League before guiding them to the Bronze Medal at the World Cup in Japan, thus securing a place at the Beijing Olympics.

Stoev, born October 3, 1971, played Volleyball from 1984 until he turned coach and represented Bulgaria from 1991 to 1999, playing over 200 matches for the national team.

He is a three-time national champion of Bulgaria (twice with Levski Siconco, once with Minior Buhovo) and World Junior Champion (Cairo 1981), when he was nominated as Tournament MVP.