Bojinov receives warm welcome at Pietà

Bulgaria's Valeri Bojinov received a warm welcome from his former club Pieta Hotspurs yesterday as the 19-year-old returned to the place where his career was launched.

Bojinov arrived at the club accompanied by Edward Schembri, the Hotspurs president, whose excellent contacts in Italy were decisive for the young forward to win a contract with Serie A club Lecce in 1999.

Bojinov was visibly impressed as he toured the club's facilities, most notably the synthetic turf pitch that replaced the old hard surface.

"I'm really delighted to be back at the place where it all started for me," Bojinov said. "When Mr Schembri invited me over I simply could not refuse.

"This club holds a special place in my heart. Pietà were the ones who helped me fulfil my dream of playing professional football.

"I'm happy to see that this club has maintained its stance of investing heavily in the youth nursery. Pietà have always tried to nurture their own talents and this policy naturally helps more youngsters to improve.

"I wish this club every success and, who knows, perhaps one day I will play against Pietà in European competition."

Bojinov said that he owes much to Schembri and players' agent Alfredo San Filippo.

"Without these two individuals I wouldn't be playing in Italy now, for sure," Bojinov said. "They always had great faith in my abilities."

Schembri said Pietà were glad to have Bojinov back at their club.

"We at Pietà are all proud of Valeri's achievements. His exploits in the Serie A fill the club with great pride," Schembri said.

"Although he played for us for only a few months we all knew there was a special hidden talent in this guy."

San Filippo said he was not surprised by Bojinov's rise to stardom.

"The lad always trains hard and tries to improve himself," he said.

"His best virtue perhaps is that he is always ready to heed to advice and spends hours practising. No doubt there is still a lot to come from this player."

Bojinov was presented with a blue Pietà Hotspurs FC shirt that carried the no.99 which represented the year he was at the club.

Also at Pietà yesterday were members of the Fiorentina Supporters Club - Malta. Bojinov, who moved to Florence from Lecce last January, said Fiorentina had a good start to the season and that owes much to the wise tactics of Cesare Prandelli.

"I believe this could be a great year for Fiorentina," Bojinov said.

"We have a formidable squad. So far we have done pretty well. Prandelli is doing an excellent job. He is a fantastic coach and I'm sure he can lead Fiorentina to some great results.

"Hopefully, by the end of the season we will qualify to play in Europe."

Bojinov was quite frank on Bulgaria's failure to reach the finals.

"It's always disappointing to miss out on a big occasion such as a World Cup," he said in very fluent Italian. "I guess, we were not good enough, simple as that.

"We failed to win our home matches against direct rivals... you can't pretend to qualify if you don't beat Sweden and Croatia.

"No team can be underestimated these days. I thought Croatia would have easily beaten Malta last month, but we all know what happened.

"So, we must be careful at the National Stadium because the Maltese work very hard in the pitch and we will have to be at our best to win the three points."