Bulgaria named uncapped goalkeeper Georgi Kitanov in their 25-man squad yesterday for the World Cup qualifiers away to Italy on Sept. 6 and Malta four days later.

Coach Luboslav Penev called up the promising 18-year-old Cherno More Varna keeper following his outstanding performances in the domestic league. Kitanov trained with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in January but was not offered a contract.

Bulgaria, who have failed to reach the World Cup finals since 1998, visit Italy in Palermo on September 6 and take on Malta in Ta’ Qali on Sept. 10.

The unbeaten Bulgarians are second in Group B on 10 points from six matches, four points behind Italy. The Czech Republic are third on nine points, followed by Armenia and Denmark on six. Malta are bottom on three points.

Squad

Goalkeepers: N. Mihaylov (Verona); V. Stoyanov (Ludogorets), G. Kitanov (Cherno More Varna)

Defenders: I. Ivanov (Basel), P. Zanev (Akmar Perm), Y. Minev (Ludogorets), R. Dimitrov (Slavia Sofia), Y. Hristov (Botev Plovdiv), N. Bodurov (Litex Lovech), I. Milanov (Litex Lovech), A. Alexandrov (Cherno More Varna), V. Minev (Botev Plovdiv)

Midfielders: S. Manolev (PSV Eindhoven), G. Milanov (CSKA Moscow), A. Tonev (Aston Villa), V. Gadzhev (Levski Sofia), G. Iliev (Cherno More Varna), S. Dyakov (Ludogorets), H. Zlatinski (Ludogorets)

Forwards: I. Popov (Kuban Krasnodar), S. Delev (Las Palmas), D. Rangelov (Luzern), T. Nedelev (Botev Plovdiv), E. Gargorov (CSKA Sofia), V. Hristov (Beroe Stara Zagora).

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