Bulgaria will play their third rugby league international later today (Saturday) when they face Serbia at FC Trebich in Sofia (kick off 3pm local time). Their previous matches were in the 2017 Balkan Cup, both in Belgrade, when they went down 68-8 to Greece and 50-20 against Serbia.
They come into the match with confidence, however, club side Lokomotive Sofia defeating Tsar Dusan the Mighty 62-12 in the Serbian second division a fortnight ago, the first-ever victory by any Bulgarian rugby league side. That game was played in the Serbian city of Paracin in the stadium where the first domestic rugby league fixture was played in the region - on 25 April 1954, between Partsian Belgrade and Radnicki Belgrade.
Bulgarian Rugby League Federation president, Tihomir Simenov, commented: “We have been part of European Rugby league since 2017 including participating in the Balkan Super League with Locomotive Sofia and 9s. We are still processing official recognition by the Bulgarian Ministry of Youth and Sport and fighting for our rights. We hope that performing well in this international will help our cause.”
Following on from their victory against Bosnia & Herzegovina last week, Serbia will again play a predominantly young side to help build for the future. They have been preparing with a camp in Babusnica in the south of the country close to the Bulgarian border, the city keen to offer regular rugby league. During their time there, the Serbian Rugby League has had meetings with the local mayor, Ivana Stojicic, leader of the council, Dalibor Jocic, and member in charge of sport, Dejan Lazarevic.
Vladan Kikanovic, SRL general secretary, said: “We are continuing our plan to strengthen our youth national team and to support development of nations in the region, with games still to come against Montenegro and Albania. We have also used this as an opportunity to support the sport in Babusnica, which hosted a match last October between Radnicki Nis and Partisan Belgrade.”
The international will be live-steamed at - https://www.sportsflickglobal.com/products/serbian-rugby-league-2021-may
BULGARIA SQUAD:
Alexandar Alexandrov, Alexandar Arsov, Kiril Atanasov, Miroslav Debreliev, Hristo Georgiev, Slavi Giumushan, Denis Ivanov, Kristian Ivanov, Svetoslav Ivanov, Jeliazko Kostadinov, Teodor Manchev, James Mott, Milen Nikolov, Vladislav Parizov, Marian Penov, Tomas Roche, Tihomir Simeonov
SERBIA SQUAD:
Mateja Nedeljkovic (Dorcol), Uros Stojkovic (Morava Cheetahs), Andrej Marinkovic, Branko Sabanovic, Djordje Krnjeta, Enis Bibic, Strahinja Stoiljkovic, Uros Ilic (Partisan 1953), Luka Ilic, Veljko Djordjevic (Radnick Nis), Aleksa Zivojinovic (Radnicki New Belgrade), Batric Jevric, Dorotej-Dado Arnold, Luka Raskovic, Marko Jevdjic, Milos Pavlovic, Nikola Mladenovic (Red Star)
Match official: Slobodan Manak