Sofia, Bulgaria, Nov 2: Former international Lyuboslav Penev replaced the sacked Lothar Matthaeus as coach of Bulgaria on Wednesday.
Matthaeus was fired in September after failing to take the team to the final stage of Euro 2012 -- a promise he made when he took over a year ago.
“Penev knows the players very well and I think he is the best choice from among the coaches we could have appointed,” Bulgarian Football Union president Borislav Mihailov said.
“Penev signed a two-year contract with an option for two more years.”
The 45-year-old Penev will lead Bulgaria in its qualification campaign for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Bulgaria is in Group B along with Italy, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Armenia and Malta.
Penev has previously coached Bulgarian top sides CSKA Sofia and Litex Lovech, the current league champion.
The forward played 62 games for Bulgaria. His career began in 1984 at CSKA Sofia, and later he played in several top Spanish clubs like Valencia and Atletico Madrid. He was voted Bulgarian footballer of the year in 1988.
