Thursday Sep 29 2005 07:44
Bulgaria coach Plamen Markov admitted his side had made some elementary defensive errors as they crashed to a 5-0 defeat against Sweden in their opening Group C match at Euro 2004.
Bulgaria edged the first half and were unlucky to trail 1-0 at half-time. They had chances to equalise at the start of the second period before the floodgates opened.
Freddie Ljungberg had given the Swedes a first-half lead after Bulgaria's offside trap failed and Henrik Larsson netted twice before the hour mark to stun Markov's side.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Allback added late goals to complete the rout and the Bulgaria boss had no excuses after the loss.
"I'd like first of all to congratulate Sweden for the win," he said.
"It was an even first half of the game despite the scoreline being 0-1.
"Our team played well and I give the players credit for that, but in the second half, the second and third goals came very quickly and Sweden took the initiative until the end of the game.
"There were many weaknesses in our game despite the fact that in the first half and in the second, we had some chances to get a draw.
"Sweden are definitely the team that deserved to win, that's obvious, but the result is too big and not a fair reflection of the game."
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