29th
March 2000
Journalist:How relieved are you to have the Hristo Stoitchkov situation squared away?
29th
March 2000
Hristo:Of course the 'Oscar' awarding ceremony was a No 1 event here in the last few days.You can't imagine what is the interest and what an influence this ceremony has.You can't meet anyone in the streets-something like a match between Barca and Real.I watched the ceremony on alone but had a lot of fun.I was very happy when my friend Pedro Almodovar received an Oscar for best foreign film.I felt very proud with it and was internally celebrating with him.This reminded of me of the moment,when I won the 'Golden Ball' in 1994,but what does it mean for the Americans,who are very far from the football.I am not alone form yesterday,because my wife Mariana arrived.I am calmer now,already have a teacher in English and things are going on well.
28th
March 2000
Balakov:I will not allow such speculation related to Hristo Stoichkov.Everybody knows he is Bulgaria's greatest footballer.
27th
March 2000
Hristo:
(On his red card) I do not think it was a foul. He (Mo Johnston) dove and the referee went for it. We came out thinking we could win the game but sometimes that doesn't
happen. This is a team sport and everyone has to help each other. You cannot fault one person for the mistakes of the game. We all have to be mentally strong as a team
and that way we can improve and play well.
27th
March 2000
Fire Coach Bob Bradley:I would say that [Stoitchkov's foul] is a yellow card.A bad foul by Mo [earlier in the game] drew only a yellow.
27th
March 2000
Mo Johnson:I caught an elbow in the face,but I don't think he should have
gotten a red. It was in the heat of the moment. I feel sorry for Stoitchkov because
he'll probably get more than his fair share [of calls going against him in MLS].
27th
March 2000
Fire defender C.J. Brown:Mo plays hard; Stoitchkov plays hard; we all play hard.Why don't you look at the referee [Noel Kenny]? It's hard to not get a card. We've got too many people trying to calm our sport down, and that happens only in MLS. On the national team, players try to kill you and you just play on. 25th
March 2000
Stojcho Mladenov-Bulgarian National Team Head-Coach:Our national team needs someone with the master skills of Hristo Stoichkov. 17th
March 2000
Chicago Fire Head Coach Bob Bradley:I am pleased with what Hristo showed,but I have to mention that it is obvious that he has been away from the big game for a long time.He will need some time to regain his good form,but I am sure that if he plays versus Dallas, he will help us get a revenge against Burns,because they eliminated us in the playoffs last year and we couldn't defend our title from 1998 versus Los Angeles Galaxy.
Bradley:It was something that we worked on for a long time, and, obviously, it was frustrating at times, but I think from all sides, it's a good thing that it
worked out.
Journalist:And you didn't have to give up any of your core players, particularly the younger ones that you were most concerned about losing. You had to be happy with
that ...
Bradley:Sure. We certainly have tried hard to build up a good nucleus of younger players. I think it is real important to try to constantly build that base from the bottom
with good talent. Obviously, there are other teams in the league that have done a good job with that, but we feel strongly about the group of players we have, and we
were hopeful that we could keep that group together.
Journalist:Some people, maybe your opponents, would say that you didn't have to pay a high enough price for Stoitchkov. What do you think - was it a fair
price?
Bradley:I think there are a lot of people in the league who complain about everything, so it doesn't surprise me to hear that they are out in force again. I didn't hear
anybody saying there was anything wrong about us not getting compensation for [Jorge] Campos, [Roman] Kosecki or [Jerzy] Podbrozny.
I think we're a team that, given the way expansion teams were set up, made good decisions. Unlike other teams in the leagues that brought in foreign players and got
rid of them or were still paying them while asking for new players, we never did anything like that. I think the players we brought to the league - I'm proud of every
one of them. I think they've all come to MLS and contributed in many ways. It was written that we waived Kosecki and Podbrozny, but I think that part was not
accurate.
Journalist:What do you think about big-name players coming to the league and requesting a certain team? Is that something the league has to look at?
Bradley:I think you need to look at the facts with Hristo. We knew that Kosecki and Podbrozny were not coming back, and we were looking around and trying to
assess the right kind of replacement.
We checked a bunch of different leads, and in that process we heard that Hristo had interest to play in MLS and possibly in Chicago. So we did some checking to
find out if that was true. ... When we felt that it was a possibility, we spoke to [MLS executive vice president] Ivan Gazidis and let him make contact from there.
Journalist:But, again, he made it clear that Chicago was his preference.
Bradley:He said that he had an interest in Chicago, but that was after we had expressed some interest in him. The key here is simple. If a team has a foreign slot open, if
a team has salary cap room and there is no acquisition money, then there is no issue. ... It's now clear that teams have to go through a certain procedure in order to
have a chance to get a player. If it's an allocation, then there are certain rules about how that works that make sense. I think there's a big difference between that and
a situation where a player wants to go to a particular city and the league just gives him to that team.
Stoitchkov: 'A tremendous competitor'
Journalist:From a coaching standpoint, what are the challenges that bringing in Stoitchkov present?
Bradley:I think probably too much has been made of the challenges of bringing Hristo into a team. We have certainly done a lot of homework and believe that, in every
way, he is a positive addition.
He has experience, and everywhere he's been, he's shown that he's a tremendous competitor with a will to win. Those are the kind of players you always want to
bring into a league and a team.
Our issues are more as a team, trying to find a good balance between attacking players and defending players. It's not always as simple as putting all the best
attacking players on the field. ... Players like Marco Etcheverry, Peter Nowak or Hristo Stoitchkov appreciate smart players around them who make it easier for
them to do the things they do well.
Journalist:Any comments on his gesture to you after the first goal, running over to the sideline and shaking your hand?
Bradley:I think that he's done a tremendous job of coming into our team. He had a crazy week. ... He never complained, and he has shown all of the players that he is
excited to be in MLS and be a part of our team.
Journalist:Can you reflect on the offseason, the uncertainty about your future and how you feel about it now?
Bradley:There was a short period of time where there was a lot of speculation and much of it was unfair, especially to Clive Charles, because my feeling was always
clear that Clive was the Olympic coach until he decided that he didn't want to be the Olympic coach. I felt that at times he was attacked unfairly.
Beyond that, my feelings were always the same. I think between the players, coaches and [GM] Peter Wilt, we have a good situation in Chicago. We are all proud of
the team and what we've accomplished. We were all disappointed in the finish last year, and we were all looking forward to getting back together this year and once
again seeing if we could win an MLS championship.
'Our own worst enemy'
Journalist:What's your feeling on the league this season? A lot of people are saying it's a critical year.
Bradley:I guess that's true. The league continues to improve on the field. I think sometimes we're our own worst enemy.
Journalist:In what way?
Bradley:The way we present our games, in terms of the stadiums we play in, the fields, what games look like on TV. Those kinds of things I think sometimes we just
haven't done a good enough job.
When people watch games on television and see some of the stadiums in Europe and great crowd shots . . . even if the crowd is not huge, you see people packed
right on top of the field, you see a terrific field surface - that goes a long way toward building excitement. I don't think we've managed to get that part right yet.
(about the match between Fire and Kansas)These referees are like the others,even worse.I was sent out,because of a simulation of a player from the other team.But I am not worried-Lothar Matthaus also debuted in the league with a loss.After the match all my temmates were soothing me,and the best player of Kansas-and ex-player of Sevia,Molnar came in the changing room to calm me.
Basketball,hokey and American football are very popular here.I may try playing in the American variant of this game some day,as my frined from Barca Angoy did.
With Peter they handed out two red cards, and neither player had a yellow before that,As for Stoitchkov, what did he do? For what reason did he get a red card? We're [MLS officials] trying too much to control things. Now you breathe and get called for it.
I will answer all the questions connected with Stoichkov and Balakov on a special press-conference on Monday.
