Soccer-CSKA Sofia to unveil Stoichkov statue

SOFIA, March 29 (Reuters) - CSKA Sofia will unveil a statue of former European footballer of the year Hristo Stoichkov at their stadium where thousands of supporters queued to get into the ground during his trophy-laden spell at the Bulgarian club in the 1980s. Stoichkov, considered Bulgaria's all-time greatest player, won three league titles and four national cups with CSKA before joining Barcelona in 1990. "It'll be a two-metre bronze statue," sculptor Kostadin Nenov told a news conference on Tuesday. "The desire of Mr Stoichkov was for the statue to be smaller but I think it's inappropriate." Stoichkov, 50, led Bulgaria to the 1994 World Cup semi-finals in the United States, the greatest achievement in the Balkan country's soccer history. CSKA, one of the two most popular Bulgarian clubs alongside city rivals Levski Sofia, have not won the domestic title since 2008. The Reds, heavily in debt, were demoted to Bulgaria's third tier in June, but they still attract the biggest attendances in the Black Sea state. (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov, editing by Ed Osmond)