Bulgarian midfielder Georgiev to miss Euro qualifiers

SOFIA, Oct 2 (Reuters) Midfielder Blagoi Georgiev has pulled out of Bulgaria's squad for their Euro 2008 Group G qualifiers against the Netherlands and Luxembourg because of a thigh muscle strain.

The 24-year-old, who has been told to rest for 10 days, picked up the injury during his club Red Star Belgrade's 2-1 defeat by Slovan Liberec in the UEFA Cup on Thursday.

''It happened midway through the first half,'' said Georgiev.

''I set off on a sprint and suddenly felt a sharp pain in my thigh.

''It's hard to accept that I'm going to miss the Netherlands match. It's one of our most important matches and I was looking forward to playing in it.'' Bulgaria host the Netherlands on Saturday and visit Luxembourg four days later.

Coach Hristo Stoichkov said he will not call up a replacement for Georgiev.

''I knew that Blagoi was injured and with little chance of recovering in time for the forthcoming matches and that's why I named a 23-man squad,'' said Stoichkov.

''We also have worries about Svetoslav Todorov's fitness but we'll take a decision on him in the next days.'' The Netherlands top the group with six points from two games, followed by Bulgaria and Romania on four points, Albania and Belarus on one and Luxembourg and Slovenia without any.

REUTERS SK BD2238