Bulgaria aim to extend unbeaten run against Dutch

SOFIA, Oct 5 (Reuters) Coach Hristo Stoichkov said Bulgaria had nothing to fear when they host Euro 2008 Group G leaders the Netherlands on Saturday.

The Bulgarians plan to reproduce the fighting spirit that earned them four points from their opening two games, coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Romania then enjoying a 3-0 home win over Slovenia.

Stoichkov, whose six goals helped Bulgaria reach the 1994 World Cup semi-finals in the US, said the Netherlands side was not as strong as it used to be and although they had collected a maximum six points they had not had it all their own way against Luxemburg and Belarus.

''I don't think we have to be afraid of (Arjen) Robben, (Robin) van Persie or (Dirk) Kuyt,'' said Stoichkov. ''If you look at our squad you'll see that we have (Dimitar) Berbatov, Martin Petrov, Stilian Petrov, (Valeri) Bozhinov..., so we have a very talented team to cope with them.'' 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 with zero.

''We'll be searching for victory but we'll not be disappointed with a draw either because it will keep our chances of making the finals alive.'' Stoichkov, who has lost three squad members through injury, will rely on experience as eight players are over 30.

Dutch coach Marco van Basten has included six players under 23 with Ajax Amsterdam's Ryan Babel only 19.

Probable team: Bulgaria: Georgi Petkov; Stanislav Angelov, Elin Topuzakov, Valentin Iliev, Lucio Vagner; Stilian Petrov, Radostin Kishishev; Dimitar Telkiyski, Martin Petrov, Zoran Yankovic; Dimitar Berbatov.

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