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#4 Hristo Stoichkov
Hristo Stoichkov was known for his powerful shot and unpredictable behaviour
Probably the best player ever produced by Bulgaria, Hristo Stoichkov was renowned as much for his foul temper as he was his incredibly powerful shot – hence his nickname of ‘El Pistolero’, basically translating to ‘The Gunslinger’. But despite this questionable reputation he was, on his day, one of the best players in the world. He won the Ballon d’Or in 1994 and was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in both 1992 and 1994.
His greatest triumphs came as part of Johan Cruyff’s legendary Barcelona ‘Dream Team’, with whom he won La Liga four years in a row between 1990/91 and 1993/94 and the Champions League in 1991/92. During his time at the Nou Camp, he formed a terrifying strike partnership with the legendary Brazilian Romario and only scored less than 20 goals in one of his five initial seasons there. He made a return to Barcelona in 1996/97 after a season in Italy with Parma, but by that point, he was in the twilight of his career and he wasn’t as successful.
Away from Barcelona, the 1994 World Cup was arguably his career high point. Stoichkov scored five goals in qualifying to take Bulgaria to their first World Cup since 1986, and while the team went into the tournament as huge underdogs, they managed to go all the way to the semi-finals – eliminating holders Germany along the way – with Stoichkov scoring six goals to jointly win the tournament’s Golden Boot. He also scored ten goals during the qualifiers for Euro 1996 and scored three goals in three games during the tournament, although Bulgaria didn’t make it past the group stages.
A quick, unpredictable striker who was perhaps best deployed in a supporting role alongside another prolific goalscorer – as he was at Barcelona with Romario – Stoichkov was largely unplayable if he was on form. He was surprisingly quick, was able to dribble at explosive speeds, and was also a dead-ball expert. Simply put, he was one of the best European players of all time, let alone one of the best from Eastern Europe.
