site.btaBulgaria Draws Moldova in Final Friendly Ahead of Nations League

The Bulgarian national football team could only manage a 2–2 draw away to Moldova in its final match before the start of the UEFA Nations League fixtures this autumn.

Georgi Rusev gave Bulgaria the lead in the 23rd minute, while Marin Petkov restored the advantage in the 76th minute. The hosts equalized on both occasions through Victor Bogaciuc and their captain Vladyslav Baboglo, who scored five minutes from time.

For Petkov, it was his seventh goal for the national team. With that tally, he equaled the international scoring records of Georgi ‘Jeki’ Dimitrov Georgi ‘Cherveniya’ Dimitrov, and Svetoslav Todorov.

Bulgaria’s head coach Aleksandar Dimitrov made eight changes to the starting lineup compared with Monday’s 0–1 defeat to Montenegro in Plovdiv. The only players to retain their places were Dimitar Velkovski, Petko Panayotov, and Lukas Petkov.

During the match, Dimitrov made nine substitutions and should now have a clearer idea of which players he can rely on in the autumn, when Bulgaria begins its Nations League campaign with home matches against Luxembourg and Estonia.