Bulgarian accolade boosts Berbatov

Bayer 04 Leverkusen striker Dimitar Berbatov has won the Bulgarian Player of the Year award for a second time in three years.

Second award
Berbatov, who also won the award in 2002, continued his rich goalscoring form for club and country in the current calendar year and won the award convincingly having collected 439 points in a poll of 159 football journalists. US Lecce's Valeri Bozhinov finished second on 221 points while 187 points left VfL Wolfsburg's Martin Petrov third. UD Levante forward Vladimir Manchev came fourth, while 2003 winner Stilian Petrov, of Celtic FC, shared fifth position with Wolfsburg's Marian Hristov.

Crucial contributions
"I would like to thank my colleagues in the national team and my club Leverkusen," said Berbatov, whose goals have been invaluable in propelling the German side to the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League and Bulgaria to second place in FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 8. "It is thanks to their help I am winning this award."

Stoitchkov success
Hristo Stoitchkov collected the coach of the year award having taken over as national team coach after Bulgaria lost all three games at UEFA EURO 2004™. Stoitchkov remains unbeaten after six matches in charge, with Bulgaria taking seven points from their first three World Cup qualifiers.

'Only the start'
However, he played down this achievement. "It is too early for me to win such awards," said the former FC Barcelona striker. "This is only the start for me and the boys from the national team. I will be even happier if I retain the award after 12 months. That will mean we have done our job and managed to qualify for the World Cup finals in 2006."

Domestic awards
A number of players from the Bulgarian Premier League were also recognized, with PFC Levski Sofia duo Dimitar Ivankov and Elin Topuzakov winning the awards for best goalkeeper and defender respectively. PFC CSKA Sofia's Hristo Yanev was voted midfield player of the year, while PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv's Martin Kamburov won the strikers' award. PFC Slavia Sofia midfield player Chavdar Yankov took the prize for most improved player.