Bozhinov fulfilling his destiny
Friday, 6 October 2006
by Stoyan Georgiev & Paolo Menicucci
This week some players across the continent are facing UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers; others are involved in UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs.
Or, if you are Bulgaria striker Valeri Bozhinov, a bit of both. 
Hectic schedule
On Saturday, while his U21 team-mates are in Belgium, Bozhinov is set to line up for the seniors at home to the Netherlands. Four days later, as the UEFA EURO 2008™ hopefuls go to Luxembourg, Bozhinov is tipped to stay in Sofia for the U21s' return leg against Belgium. That is a fairly relaxed schedule by Bozhinov's standards: last month the 20-year-old came on for the last 28 minutes of a 2-2 EURO qualifying draw in Romania, then 24 hours later he played and scored for the U21s in a vital 2-1 win against Croatia, and three days after that returned to the seniors to start a 3-0 defeat of Slovenia and again got among the goals. But then, as Bozhinov's stepfather Sasho Angelov - himself a former Bulgarian international - told uefa.com: "Valeri was destined for greatness."
Italy via Malta
Bozhinov's background is unusual. Born in the Bulgarian town of Gorna Oryahovitsa to a women's volleyball international, he later moved to Malta. Spotted aged 13 playing for Pietà Hotspurs FC, Angelov's club, by US Lecce sporting director Pantaleo Corvino, Bozhinov moved to Italy for €15,000 and before his 16th birthday had made his Serie A debut, becoming the youngest ever foreign player in that league. His senior international bow was similarly prodigious as he came off the bench for the second half of the UEFA EURO 2004™ match against Italy in Portugal. Some spectacular displays for Lecce then earned the teenager a €13m transfer to ACF Fiorentina in January 2005, and this summer he switched to Juventus as part of the Adrian Mutu deal.
Determination
Angelov, who won ten Bulgaria caps in the 1990s, remembers Bozhinov's move to Italy. "Valeri grew up playing football," Angelov said. "He used to watch the great national side from the 90s and was determined to become a footballer. On 30 June 1999 I went to Malta and my family arrived a week later. Then on 6 October he went on trial to Lecce. I remember the date because the night before, his sister was born. Lecce immediately asked him to stay at the club and he did not hesitate at all. He was just 13 at the time and had to remain in Italy on his own. But he wanted to become a professional player and showed the character and stamina for that. He had not even taken a lot of clothes with him and returned to Malta two months later for Christmas. He wanted so much to play in Italy."
Italian upbringing
Once in Italy, Lecce treated him as a son and he was taken under the wing of a local priest, Don Damiano. "From him I learnt not to lose contact with real life," said Bozhinov, fluent in the Leccese dialect as well as Italian. He also learned at the feet of coach Zdeněk Zeman, considered the maestro of attacking football in Italy. Indeed, after scoring a goal against AS Roma, Bozhinov ran towards the notoriously stony-faced Zeman and planted a kiss on his forehead - a scene that amused all in Italian football. He may now have moved down a division with Juventus, but he is gaining the opportunity to learn from Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet despite often having to watch them from the bench. "I know that I have to improve if I want to play for a team like Juventus," Bozhinov said. "Del Piero and Trezeguet are models for me, they have scored so many goals for Juve and I hope I will be able to emulate them one day."
Valeri always wanted to be a striker and to score goals and now he is doing exactly that
Sasho Angelov, Valeri Bozhinov's stepfather
'In his veins'
He is already getting there. Angelov, now coaching Chumerna Elena back in Bulgaria, had no doubts his stepson would. "Of course, it is easy to say now that I believed he would become such an excellent player," Angelov said. "But that was exactly the case. Football really is in his veins. As a child he wanted to be a forward and score goals. One of the good strikers in Bulgaria in the early 90s was Valentin Ignatov. We were close friends and he always showed Valeri a lot of tricks and free-kicks. Valeri always wanted to be a striker and to score goals and now he is doing exactly that."
'Devoted'
This is just what Bulgaria need, be it at senior or U21 level. And combining those two usually exclusive roles is just what Bozhinov relishes. Angelov said: "He played three games in just four days...that's exactly him. He wants to play as much as possible. He does not mind playing for either side as he is defending the national team colours. He still very young and there is a lot of room for improvement, but he is fully focused on his targets and devoted to the game."
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