Atanas Ribarski, the coach of the Bulgarian men’s national football team, said that Iceland has a very strong offense and also performs very well on set pieces. But even if he has spotted weaknesses in the opponent, he wouldn’t reveal them to journalists, he’d share them with his players instead, Ribarski said at a press conference in Reykjavik. On Saturday, Bulgaria plays against Iceland in its third match of Group C/4 at Laugardalsvollur Stadium.
Ribarski temporarily took over as head coach of the Bulgarian football team on Sunday, following the resignation of Aleksandar Dimitrov, which came after the goalless draw with Estonia on September 29.
Responding to a question about how he prepared for the match, given the short timeframe, Ribarski said that the last two days had been intense, adding “We haven’t had the time we needed. We tried to gather as much information as possible and present it to the players in the shortest, most concise way possible.”
“I certainly won’t reveal Iceland’s weaknesses. I’ll keep those to myself. As for their strengths – they have a lot of quality on offense. And above all, they’ve played a lot of matches together, and over the past 10 years they’ve shown tremendous growth, competing in two major tournaments in 2016 and 2018. Direct play is also a strength of the Icelandic team, as are set pieces.”
Ribarski will, in all likelihood, also lead the team in the match against Luxembourg on October 6. He currently coaches the U-19 national team.
Ribarski said that he wanted the players to play as a team. “I believe in the players because we also have quite a few high-quality players,” the Bulgarian coach added.
When asked if, like his predecessor Dimitrov, he truly believes that some kind of curse weighs on Bulgarian football, he replied: “I don’t know about a curse. But in football, there’s always a saying that trust and respect between players and the coaching staff are crucial. In the short time we have, this will be one of our priorities. And hopefully they’ll understand that we’re a team. And we, myself and my assistants, are here to help. In football, there’s always an element of luck, but it favours those who pursue it with all their heart,” Ribarski said.
Bulgaria’s Head Coach Ribarski: Iceland’s Strength Is in Attack, We Are Here to Achieve Best Possible Result THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-02 16:59:12
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BULGARIA NEWS – NEWS AGENCY 2009–2026 2026-10-02 16:59:12
