Burnden Aces

U21s: Wales 3-1 Bulgaria; Iliev Completes 90 Minutes

• April 01, 2015 | By Chris Mann
• Short URL: http://b-ac.es/b0559

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• Bulgaria U21, Georg Iliev, Wales U21
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Georg Iliev completed 90 minutes on Tuesday, as Bulgaria began their UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign with a 3-1 defeat in Wales.

The 2015 tournament may not take place until June but the process of whittling down countries to take part in the 2017 edition has already started, with a handful of games already complete.

Bulgaria, who have been drawn in Group 5 alongside Wales, Armenia, Denmark, Luxembourg and Romania, began their 10-match schedule at the Cardiff City Stadium but got off to the worst possible start - conceding three goals inside the opening 25 minutes in the Welsh capital.

A quickfire brace from Port Vale midfielder Thomas O'Sullivan had put Wales into a 2-0 lead with just 13 minutes on the clock, before Cardiff City defender Joshua Yorwerth added a third shortly thereafter.

Aleksandar Kolev, of Botev Plovdiv, reduced the deficit within six minutes of the restart, but Bulgaria were no match for Geraint Williams' side, who top the group at this early stage.

Iliev, whose contract at Bolton is due to expire at the end of the season, will be hoping for a better outcome when Bulgaria return to action with games against Romania and Luxembourg when the qualification process continues in September.

Wales U21: Dibble, Yorwerth, Wright (Smith 55), John, O'Sullivan (Weeks 46), Sheehan, Burns, Harrison (Wilson 82), J Evans, Hedges
Subs Not Used: O'Brien, L Evans, Shephard, Jones
Booked: Weeks, Sheehan
Goals: O'Sullivan 9,13, Yorwerth 25

Bulgaria U21: Lyubenov, Malinov, Popadiyn, Terziev, Galabov, Marin, Iliev, Vasilev (Rasim 46), Kolev, Despodov (Vutov 70), Chunchukov (Angelov 46)
Subs Not Used: Tsonev, Stanoev, Vitanov, Hadzhiev
Booked: Vasilev, Galabov
Goals: Kolev 51

Referee: Bart Vertenten (Belgium)
Venue: Cardiff City Stadium (Cardiff, Wales)

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