On 12 June 1998, The World Cup Group D in France took place in Bulgaria against Paraguay at the Mosson Stadium in Montpellier.
Bulgaria were fourth in the last World Cup and in this match they were sent, with the starting line-up of Zdravkov, Kishev, Ivanov, Petrokov, Jordanov, Jankov, Stoichkov, Penev, Barakov, Ilyev and Nankov.
For Paraguay, this match is their first since the 1986 World Cup. Their starting line-ups are Chilawite, Gamala, Ayala, Cardoso, Akuna, Sarabia, Paredes, Benitez, Ensiso, Santos and Gompos.
Among them, Gompos's name is probably the most familiar to Chinese fans, and the foreign aid who played for Guoan at that time was not only the Chinese footballer of the year in 1997 (the first foreign aid to receive this honor), but also the first player to play in the Chinese league and participate in the World Cup.
Although Gompos is well known among domestic fans, he is not the number one star in the Paraguayan squad. Paraguay's biggest star in the squad was goalkeeper Chirawit, who was also one of the American goalkeepers of that era.
Just one minute into the game, the Bulgarian team took the lead, Barakov tried to test Chilawite with a long-range shot, but unfortunately the ball failed to hit the frame of the goal and deflected out of the goal.
After more than a minute, Gompos was given the opportunity to show his face, he received a pass from his teammate and prepared to launch a breakthrough along the left side, although he dodged the Bulgarian first round of defense, but in the face of the fierce werewolf Ivanov, Gompos could only consider himself unlucky.
It has to be said that after the start of the game, the rhythm of the offensive and defensive conversion between the two sides was still very fast, and soon Stoichkov took the ball into the box and fell to the ground after physical contact with Sarabia, but the referee did not say anything about it.
In the 6th minute of the game, Stoichkov had another chance, he received a cross from teammate Nankov in the penalty area and headed the ball into the goal, but unfortunately this shot was not good in both strength and angle, and the ball was easily confiscated by Chiravit.
In the following matches, the Bulgarian team began to gain the advantage on the field. In the 13th minute of the game, they were given another free-kick near the line of the penalty area, but the final shot failed to pose any threat.
In the next ten minutes of the game, although the two sides still played back and forth, they had few opportunities to shoot. In the 27th minute of the match, Nankov fouled Gompos and received the first yellow card of the game, giving Paraguay a well-placed free kick.
This free kick from Akuna was the most threatening shot from both sides in more than ten minutes, but it was still easily deflected by Zdravkov.
In the 33rd minute of the match, Bulgaria also got a chance to set the piece up front, but Stojchikov's shot hit the Paraguayan defender and flew out of the line.
Bulgaria's best chance to score came in the 35th minute of the match, when Stojchikov picked up a pass from his teammate and shot inside the arc of the penalty area. Chilawite did not react to the ball, but the ball bounced off the upright impartially and the Bulgarian team missed the opportunity.
In the 39th minute of the match, Bulgaria won another free kick opportunity, this time replaced by Ivanov, whose shot was equally threatening, forcing Chilawite to make a first flying save.
Paraguay, who was passive, narrowly took the lead in the 42nd minute of the match, Paraguay launched a counterattack by counter-attacking, cardoso was given the opportunity to face the goalkeeper, but he kicked the ball offside.
Immediately after, paraguay made its first personnel adjustment, and Canisa came on to replace Santos.
In the 44th minute of the match, Benitez confronted the Bulgarian players in a battle for the ball in front of the field, and the referee found that he showed him a yellow card for malicious fouls.
Benitez, who received a yellow card, caused bulgarian players to eat cards in injury time, and taking advantage of the Bulgarian team's corner attack failure, Benitez received the ball and prepared to counterattack, only to be directly shoveled. The player who fouled was none other than Stojchikov.
Although the scene and data are dominant, the Bulgarian team has always scored a lack of skills, and the two teams can only exchange blanks 0:0 in the first half of the game.
Just when people were expecting Bulgaria to score in the second half, Paraguay began to exert themselves, and they frequently attacked the Bulgarian hinterland. They had three corners in just over ten minutes into the second half, and they had one corner in the entire first half.
Although the second half became the passive side of the scene, the Bulgarian team was not completely without opportunities. In the 62nd minute of the match, Stoichkov completed an inverted triangle pass inside the penalty area, but Penev generously kicked the ball into the stands.
Compared to Penev's unreliability, Gompos's long-range shot a minute later was quite threatening, causing Zdravkov to save his hand, but fortunately his second reaction was fast enough to control the ball, and there was no Paraguayan player in the box. But Gompos, who finished the shot, limped and appeared to be injured.
In the 68th minute of the match, bulgaria made a substitution, Penev came off the field, and Kostadinov came off the bench.
Two minutes later Paraguay also made an adjustment, with Ramirez replacing Cardoso.
In the 72nd minute of the match, Paraguay launched a quick counterattack, and just as Gompos was preparing to pick up a pass from his teammate and prepare for a quick start, he was fouled by Ivanov. The Bulgarian captain received a yellow card and a set-piece.
This time, it was no one else who stood in front of the ball and prepared to take the penalty, it was Paraguayan captain Chiravit. The goalkeeper finally couldn't resist his desire to score at this moment.
I saw him shoot a wonderful arc ball with his left foot after a brief run, and the ball went around the wall and went straight to the dead corner. But the speed of the ball was not fast, and Zdravkov managed to defuse it, avoiding becoming the first goalkeeper in World Cup history to be scored by a goalkeeper.
After that, the two sides made another substitution, but the goal score was still delayed. Instead, Nankov was sent off for another yellow card in the 88th minute of the game, becoming the first person to be red in this World Cup. In the end, the score of 0:0 was maintained until the end of the game.