Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Back to FIVB's homepage
RSS RSS l Contact l 

World League 2010
21st Edition
 
 BUL / Bulgaria - Team Composition

 
Team manager Guentchev Eugeni
Head coach Prandi Silvano
Assistant coach Placi Camillo
Doctor Zahariev Dinko
Therapist / trainer Atanasov Petar
Journalist Iovkov Sasho
 
  No.   Name Lastname Shirt Name Birthdate Height Weight Spike Block Club
  1 Georgi Bratoev Bratoev G. 21/10/1987 202 98 347 325 Levski Volley
  2   Hristo Tsvetanov Tsvetanov 29/03/1978 198 85 345 330 ASUL Lyon
  3 Andrey Zhekov Zhekov 12/03/1980 190 82 340 326 Copra Piacenza
  L 4   Vladislav Ivanov Ivanov 14/03/1987 188 80 320 310 Club Volley Muncipal Tomis Con
  5 Svetoslav Gotsev Gotsev 31/08/1990 202 87 340 325 Verona
  6   Matey Kaziyski Kaziyski 23/09/1984 203 93 370 335 Trentino Diatec
  7 Miroslav Gradinarov Gradinarov 10/02/1985 203 87 345 328 VC Tokio
  8   Boyan Yordanov Yordanov 12/03/1983 197 86 358 335 Pallavolo Genova
  9 Metodi Ananiev Ananiev 17/02/1986 203 100 363 345 Indykpol AZS UWM
  10   Valentin Bratoev Bratoev V. 21/10/1987 201 87 335 315 VC Friedrichshafen
  C 11 Vladimir Nikolov Nikolov V. 3/10/1977 200 95 345 325 Copra Piacenza
  12   Viktor Yosifov Yosifov 16/10/1985 204 95 350 330 Castellana Grotte
  L 13 Teodor Salparov Salparov 16/08/1982 185 73 320 305 VC Galatasaray
  14   Teodor Todorov Todorov 1/09/1989 208 94 365 345 Gazprom - Ugra Surgut
  15 Todor Aleksiev Aleksiev 21/04/1983 204 105 347 327 Gazprom - Ugra Surgut
  16   Ivan Stanev Stanev 7/07/1985 190 86 335 315 Neftohimik
  17 Aleksandar Simeonov Simeonov 6/01/1986 198 89 340 320 Levski Siconco
  18   Nikolay Nikolov Nikolov N. 29/07/1986 206 97 350 332 Callipo Sport SRL
  19 Tsvetan Sokolov Sokolov 31/12/1989 206 108 362 319 Cuneo
 C=Captain  L=Libero
 
Team profile
The year 2010 marks the 89th 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 the country.

The first national Volleyball championship was organized in 1942. Now, Bulgaria has more than 120 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 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 at 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, Germany. In the last European Championship in Izmir 2009 the Bulgarian team added another bronze medal to their list of honors.

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, where they won the silver medal, Seoul 1988, finishing sixth, and Atlanta 1996, when they settled for seventh position, and in Beijing 2008 where Bulgaria ended up fifth.

Meanwhile, in the most recent FIVB World Cup in 2007, the Bulgarians finished in third place.

Bulgaria has been one of the most regular participants in the FIVB World League since 1994, when they finished in fourth place. In the last edition they finished in tenth position.

In the FIVB World Ranking Bulgaria holds 6th place.

Currently there are some excellent Volleyball players in the Bulgarian national team, with the ones to watch including experienced Hristo Tsvetanov and Andrey Zhekov, world stars Matey Kaziyski and Vladimir Nikolov, alongside good young players such as Tsvetan Sokolov, Teodor Todorov and 2009 European Championship Best Blocker Viktor Yosifov. In the 2009 World Club championship and the 2009 Indesit European Champions League, Matey Kaziyski was named MVP.
Coach profile

Silvano Prandi was appointed coach of the Bulgarian National Team in October 2008.

His distinguished coaching career includes stints at many top Italian clubs, including Robe di Kappa Torino, Alpitour Cuneo, Lube Macerata, Itas Trento, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo and Trenkwalder Modena.

Along the way, Prandi coached his teams to four national titles in Italy, one Champions League title, five CEV Cups and four national cups. He was also named Lega Italiana Coach of the Year four times.

Prandi coached the Italian National Team for four seasons, during which the team won bronze at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The Bulgarian men's national team with Mr. Prandi as a head coach has won a bronze medal at the 2009 European Championship in Izmir and qualified for the 2010 World Championship in Italy.
 

  Photo gallery

More Photos