Yordan Letchkov

Born in Straldzha, Letchkov began his career as a youngster with Sliven football club (Bulgaria), after breaking into the first team at a young age he secured a transfer to Bulgaria's top side CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria, 1991–92 season) and soon after he made the move to Germany with Hamburger SV (Germany, from the 1992–93 season to the 1995–96 season). After that he secured a move to Olympique de Marseille (France, 1996–97 season), at this point one of the top clubs in Europe. However a difficult relationship with the club's management led to his departure after one season. His next stop took him to Turkey with Beşiktaş (Turkey, from the 1997–98 season). However, just after six months with the club, he returned late from holidays and fell into a dispute with the manager John Toshack. After being fined by the club, he refused to pay, stated that he has quit football and subsequently returned to Bulgaria. He has been variously quoted since as saying the Istanbul club owes him money, that he was unable to get on with its coach Toshack and that his wife could not settle in Turkey. However he soon started training with a Bulgarian club. Beşiktaş appealed to FIFA which declared Letchkov in breach of contract and ordered him to pay 200.000 DM in compensation. Beşiktaş renewed its appeals to UEFA and FIFA when Letchkov turned out without club permission for Bulgaria in a friendly against Argentina. FIFA subsequently ruled that Letchkov was ineligible to play for any other team without…

Letchkov played 45 matches and scored five goals for Bulgaria; however his international career was limited by a series of disagreements with coaches and the Bulgarian Football Federation. He is best remembered for scoring the winner against Germany in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup, as Bulgaria reached the semi-finals where they were beaten by Italy. Because of his matches, he was placed in the 13th position of the 1994 Ballon d'Or. Letchkov went on to compete in the 1996 European Championships in England despite the failure of Bulgaria to reach the quarter finals, playing against Spain and Romania and producing a man-of-the-match performance in the group B last match against the French side. He went on to contribute to Bulgaria's qualification campaign for the 1998 World Cup championships. However, his chance to play in the tournament was blocked by FIFA due to a contractual dispute with Beşiktaş (see also above in "Club").

International

Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Letchkov goal.

CSKA Sofia

Bulgarian Championship: 1991–92 OFC Sliven

Bulgarian Cup: 1990 Beşiktaş

Turkish Cup: 1998 Bulgaria

FIFA World Cup: fourth place 1994