Iconic Moments in Football No.47
This week’s Iconic Moment comes from the 1994 World Cup and it was the goal that knocked out the holders of the competition.
West Germany were the winners of the 1990 World Cup and it was the last time that they competed before unifying with East Germany. Two years after their World Cup success, Germany reached the final of the European Championships but surprisingly lost 2-0 to Denmark.
Germany flew to America to retain the cup and kicked off the tournament with a 1-0 win over Bolivia in the opening game of the tournament.
They followed this with a 1-1 draw with Spain before a 3-2 victory over South Korea in their final group game. They beat Belgium by the same score to set up a Quarter Final with Bulgaria.
Bulgaria hadn’t qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy but the 1994 finals was their sixth World Cup that they competed in.
In the five previous tournaments, they had never won a single game, drawing six of the sixteen games. They had somehow qualified for the knockout stages in 1986 after drawing two games.
Nigeria beat Bulgaria 3-0 in their first group game before they beat Greece 4-0 and Argentina 2-0. They beat Mexico 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Second Round.
Hristo Stoichkov had scored in every game apart from the opener against Nigeria. He would have a part to play in the Quarter Final against Germany.
Lothar Matthaus scored a penalty two minutes into the start of the second half before Stoichkov levelled the scores with fifteen minutes to go with a great free-kick. Three minutes later, Yordan Letchkov would become a name known the world over.
Bulgaria were in the ascendancy after Stoichkov’s equaliser and had forced a corner. It was headed clear and out for a throw in on the right wing.
After a few short passes, Zlatko Yankov suddenly found himself in a bit of space about 30 yards from goal out on the right hand side.
He lofted a delicate ball into the penalty area and Yordan Letchkov ran on to get on the end of the ball by the penalty spot. Letchkov lunged forward and with a powerful diving header, headed the ball past Bodo Illgner in the Germany goal.
Letchkov became a national hero in Bulgaria because of his the goal as it put them through to the semi finals of the World Cup. It could be argued that it was more memorable than the six goals that Hristo Stoichkov scored over the course of the tournament (he added a sixth in the 2-1 defeat in the semi final against Italy).
The 1994 World Cup remains Bulgaria’s greatest run in the competition and the victory over Germany was their last win in the competition. They qualified for the next World Cup in France but had a greatly disappointing tournament, drawing 0-0 with Paraguay before losing 1-0 with Nigeria and 6-1 with Spain.
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