Bulgaria name Brazilian for crunch Euro qualifier

Brazilian-born midfielder Marcos Marquinhos is set to make his debut for Bulgaria in the crucial Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro next Saturday.

Marquinhos, the CSKA Sofia playmaker, has been playing in Bulgaria since 2006 but has only just gained his passport with national coach Lothar Mattheus the driving force.

Bulgaria, fourth in Group G behind England, Montenegro and Switzerland, have little hope of qualifying for next year’s finals in Poland and Ukraine.

Marquinhos will be the second Brazilian to play for Bulgaria after defender Lucio Wagner, from Rio de Janeiro, played for the country from 2006 to 2009.

Wagner played for Levski Sofia for seven seasons.

Mattheus admitted the Balkan team’s fate is no longer in its hands, as it is dependent on other results.

“Victory away to Montenegro in early June would be a first step in the right direction. If we miss out on the Euro, we’ll turn our focus to the next major target, the World Cup in 2014,” he said.

The task was made more difficult recently when Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov quit international football.

“Berbatov doesn’t play for Bulgaria anymore, so there’s no point speculating whether it would have been better with him in the team,” Mattheus said.

“The reality is that all my players give it their best shot.”

Mattheus will also be without suspended Terek Grozny midfielder Blagoy Georgiev for the game in Podgorica that Bulgaria must win to retain any realistic hope of qualifying for next year’s finals.

England and Montenegro are joint top of the group on 10 points from four games. Switzerland are third and Bulgaria fourth, both with four points from as many matches.

Bulgaria fly to Corsica on Sunday for a four-day camp.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Nikolay Mihaylov (Twente Enschede), Vladislav Stoyanov (Sherif Tiraspol)

Defenders: Ivan Bandalovski (CSKA Sofia), Stanislav Manolev (PSV Eindhoven), Ivan Ivanov (Alania Vladikavkaz), Yordan Miliev (Levski Sofia), Valentin Iliev (Steaua Bucharest), Nikolay Bodurov (Litex Lovech), Petar Zanev (Litex Lovech), Rumen Trifonov (CSKA Sofia)

Midfielders: Stilian Petrov (Aston Villa), Chavdar Yankov (Rostov), Marquinhos (CSKA Sofia), Boris Galchev (CSKA Sofia), Ivelin Popov (Gaziantepspor), Hristo Yanev (Litex Lovech)

Strikers: Spas Delev (CSKA Sofia), Ivan Stoyanov (Alania Vladikavkaz), Martin Petrov (Bolton Wanderers), Nikolay Dimitrov (Kasimpasa), Tsvetan Genkov (Wisla Krakow), Dimitar Makriev (Krylya Sovietov).