Bulgaria coach Lothar Matthaeus has dropped Stanislav Manolev, Spas Delev and Alexander Tunchev from his squad for Tuesday’s Euro 2012 Group G qualifier in Switzerland.
PSV Eindhoven right back Manolev responded by quitting the national football shirt team. “I will not wear the shirt again under Matthaeus,” he told Darik radio.
Manolev had been left out of Friday’s 3-0 home defeat by group leaders England “for not being serious in training”.
As for CSKA Sofia striker Delev, the German coach said he needed to “show him a lesson”.
“He is a good player and the door is not closed for him,” Matthaeus told local media. “But he must learn what it means to be an international player.”
Matthaeus and the gifted but hot-headed Delev had a heated discussion before Friday’s match and the coach left him out against England, saying the 22-year-old lacked professionalism.
Tunchev is a central defender who plays his club football shirt for English Championship (second division) team Crystal Palace.
Bulgaria have brought Levski Sofia midfielder Vladimir Gadzhev into their squad for Tuesday’s game.
Matthaeus’s team have five points from six matches and have little chance of qualifying for next year’s finals.