The Bulgarian squad will be arriving in Malta on Tuesday afternoon for the friendly match against Malta on Wednesday at the Hibs Ground, kick-off at 19:00.
The squad includes Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov, Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov and Parma striker Valeri Bojinov but not Manchester City winger Martin Petrov as he suffered an injury in training.
The players selected by head coach Stanimir Stoilov are:
goalkeepers Dimitar Ivankov (Bursaspor), Nikolay Mihaylov (Twente)
defenders Plamen Nikolov (Litex Lovech), Stanislav Manolev (PSV), Veselin Minev (Levski Sofia), Ivan Bandalovski (Lokomotiv Sofia), Zhivko Milanov (Levski Sofia), Ivo Ivanov (Beroe Stara Zagora)
midfielders Stanislav Angelov (Energie Cottbus), Blagoy Georgiev (Terek Grozny), Stiliyan Petrov (Aston Villa), Georgi Sarmov (Levski Sofia), Chavdar Yankov (Duisburg)
forwards Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd), Valeri Bozhinov (Parma), Valeri Domovchiyski (Hertha Berlin), Dimitar Rangelov (Borussia Dortmund), Ivan Stoyanov (CSKA Sofia).
This will be the fifth visit to Malta by the Bulgarian national team. In December 1975, Bulgaria registered a 2-0 win in a European championship qualifier. In December 1982, Malta and Bulgaria shared the spoils in a goalless draw – the first international match played at Ta’ Qali. In the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Bulgaria defeated Malta 2-0 at Ta’ Qali in August 2001. Four years later, Malta held Bulgaria in a 1-1 draw in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers.
Bulgaria finished third in Group 8 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, behind Italy and Ireland. They won three matches, drew five and lost two.