site.btaFormer English Premier League Stars to Appear in Fundraising Football Game Organized by Stiliyan Petrov

One of the most successful Bulgarian football players of all time, Stiliyan Petrov, will bring former English Premier League and Scottish Premiership stars to Sofia for a fundraising match in Vassil Levski Stadium on September 6. The ex-captain of Celtic, Aston Villa and the Bulgarian national team gave a news conference in the Bulgarian capital on Monday to present his foundation's initiative, Match of Hope, which will raise funds for the fight against cancer. The news conference was held at Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia, which is a partner for the initiative.

In March 2012, Petrov was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. In August of that year, it was announced that Petrov's leukaemia was in remission. Petrov announced his retirement from football in May 2013.

The upcoming game will pit a Team of Stiliyan Petrov and Friends against a World All-Stars Team. The extended lineup of each squad will consist of 20 members. Petrov named five of them on each side, leaving the announcement of the rest for later.

The Team of Stiliyan Petrov and Friends will include former Bulgarian internationals Hristo Stoichkov (Barcelona), Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United), Nasko Sirakov (Real Zaragoza), Martin Petrov (VfL Wolfsburg) and Marian Hristov (1. FC Kaiserslautern). All of them have played for, and some have captained, the Bulgarian national team. They will have three coaches, one of whom, Dimitar "Herro" Dimitrov, has confirmed his participation. It was Herro who invited Petrov to the national team for the first time.

The World All-Stars Team will include Roy Keane (Manchester United), Henrik Larsson (Celtic), Luis Garcia (Liverpool), Robert Pires (Arsenal) and Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United). They will be coached by Martin O'Neill, who was Petrov's team manager for many years. More names will be added every two weeks, Petrov said.

Recalling his emotional farewell game in Glasgow's Celtic Park in 2013, when 62,000 spectators gave him a standing ovation, Petrov said that 10 years later the Sofia fundraiser will support cancer patients receiving treatment in hospitals in Bulgaria.

He said: "Over the last few years, I have been thinking about expressing my gratitude to my Bulgarian fans. Perhaps many of you followed my struggle. The time has come for me to say 'thank you' as a footballer and a person. Such a game will give hope and a chance to many people who are struggling with the disease. Our show will give them even more strength to fight this nasty disease."

According to Petrov, the confirmed members of the World All-Stars Team are eager to contribute to a cause which means a lot to everyone. He played with them, struggled together with them on the pitch. "They will all lend their names to make a grand show," the ex-midfielder said.

Tickets to the match are available on Bilet.bg.