Levski’s “congratulations” for the 50th anniversary of CSKA and the mystery with the low doors

The final for Sesame Cup of Bulgaria season 2023/24 will be played on May 15. In the weeks before the fight together with Sesame we will tell you interesting stories related to the Bulgarian Cup tournament over the years.

Levski and CSKA have played a number of iconic derbies with each other over the years both in the championship and for the Bulgarian Cup. Many of these matches end without a winner or the difference ends up being one goal, but sometimes one of the two teams pulls off a resounding victory over their arch-rival, and these defeats reverberate through time and enter fan folklore.

One such match was the 1998 Bulgarian Cup final, which was the last time the Blues and Reds met in contention for the trophy in the 20th century. In it, Levski defeated CSKA 5:0 and thus “congratulated” him in a rather original way on the 50th anniversary, which the “armies” celebrated a few days before the pogrom. Because of the impressive result and because of the moment in which it was achieved, the 1998 Cup final remains a beautiful memory in the hearts of the Blues supporters and a nightmare for those who love CSKA.

How the season is shaping up for both teams:

The campaign started badly for both teams, with CSKA being knocked out by Steaua in the first round of the Champions League qualifiers after a 3-5 aggregate score, after leading 3-1 in Bucharest, but dropped the win and the match ended 3-3. Levski’s European campaign also ended prematurely, as in the tournament for the Cup Winners’ Cup, the “blues” lost to Slovan Bratislava in the first round with a total score of 2:3.

CSKA experienced difficulties in the championship, and in the winter of 1997/1998 the stars Hristo Stoichkov, Emil Kostadinov and Trifon Ivanov returned to the team, with whom the team of Georgi Vassilev-Gocheto must try to defend the championship title won in the previous season . This “injection” never brought the desired result and the “armies” remained only in third place.

The Blues also failed to win their first Bulgarian title since 1995, finishing second behind Litex, who in 1998 became champions for the first time, breaking the hegemony of the Sofia sides who have held the title in the capital for the past 6 seasons . A week before the Cup final, Levski players boycott the awarding of the new champion, who receives his medals at a ceremony at the “Vasil Levski” National Stadium, at which, traditionally, the second and third are also awarded, and individual awards are also given out. The comment on the case of the then president of Levski – Thomas Lafchis, is the following: “The football players themselves decided not to go to the award ceremony after the farce in the championship.”

What Levski and CSKA are doing for the Cup:

Both in the championship and for the Cup, CSKA has to defend its trophy, which it successfully won over Levski with 3:1 after a lot of mistakes by the “blue” defense on the difficult pitch of “Vasil Levski” on May 28, 1997.

The defense of the trophy for CSKA started with a narrow victory in Smolyan over Rodopa with a goal by Ivaylo Andonov. In the 1/8 finals, Botev Plovdiv was eliminated after 0:0 at “Hristo Botev” and 2:0 at “Bulgarian Army”, where Emil Kremenliev and Petar Zhabov put CSKA ahead. Next up is a capital city derby against Slavia. In “Ovcha Kupel” the result is equal – 1:1, after goals by Georgi Yordanov for the “Reds” and Stanimir Stoilov for the “Whites”. In the second leg of the “Army” Slavia leads 2:1 until the last minutes on the muddy field in the “Boris Garden”. However, Boncho Genchev appeared on the scene, scoring two goals between the 81st and 85th minutes, forming his hat trick, and Milen Petkov formed the final 4:2 for CSKA in a match in which referee Kostadin Gerginov showed 5 red cards.

In the semi-finals, CSKA has to play Litex, who outplayed the “Army” in Sofia with 3:1, and the honorable goal for CSKA was the work of Hristo Stoichkov and it was only for him in this period in CSKA, in which Kamata played only in one match – the one with hunting. The rematch was never played, as Litex was disqualified due to illegal carding of Radostin Kishishev, around whose transfer from Bursaspor and carding a real scandal broke out in that period. Thus, CSKA is in the final for the Cup, where the opponent, as in 1997, is Levski.

The Blues are chasing their first Cup since 1994 and their first two opponents have been blown out. First, Stefan Grozdanov’s team defeated Planinets Apriltsi as a guest with 4:0 (Todor Zaitsev, Asen Nikolov, Iliyan Simeonov, Zahari Sirakov). Against Eter in the 1/8 finals, the total score was 6:1 with two goals each by Yordan Marinov and Georgi Borisov. Next are matches against the namesakes from Kyustendil. At “Georgi Asparuhov”, Alexander Alexandrov-Krivia and Georgi Borisov bring success to the hosts, who go to Kyustendil with a comfortable lead. In the Cherries area, Yordan Marinov gave the capital city an advance, but in the second half at the Osogovo Stadium, Boyko Velichkov scored two goals for Levski Kyustendil, but Asparukh Nikodimov’s team could not get any further and Levski Sofia reached the semi-finals. A controversial moment of the match in Kyustendil was the disallowed third goal for the home team, which provoked the anger of the home crowd, who were barely stopped from storming the pitch and arguing with the referees and players of the visitors.

In the semi-finals, Levski played against Lokomotiv Sofia, who were defeated in Nadezhda 2:1, thanks to goals from Zahari Sirakov and Georgi Borisov, while Georgi Markov scored for the capital “railway players” in a match with two red cards – Valentin Naydenov was sent off from Lokomotiv and Georgi Ivanov-Gonzo from Levski. The hero of the second leg of “Georgi Asparuhov” is Alexander Alexandrov-Krivia, who scored 2 goals in the success of the “blues” with 3:2. Before him, Lokomotiv twice led in the result with goals from Dimitar Vasev and Danilo Doncic, and the first goal for the “blues” in the meeting was the work of Vladimir Yonkov.

Thus, the Cup final pits the “reds” against the “blues” once again, who enter the match with coaches different from the ones they started the season with. At the head of CSKA in the spring comes Petar Zehtinski with assistant Stoycho Mladenov in place of Georgi Vasilev. At the same time, Levski appointed Mihail Valchev to replace Stefan Grozdanov, and it later emerged that the Blues had held talks with Gochetto about his appointment as head coach following his dismissal from CSKA – a move that ultimately did not happen .

On the eve of the final, CSKA star Emil Kostadinov says the following: “This will certainly be my last appearance in the Eternal Derby.” The return of Košta, Stoichkov and Tuño did not help CSKA become champions in the season in which the club celebrates its 50th anniversary.

However, the Reds have a chance to bring joy to their fans if they defend their Cup by defeating their arch-rivals in the final.

The anniversary of CSKA and the mystery with the sunken doors:

The dispute for the National Cup is once again at the Vasil Levski Stadium, where 50,000 people gather on May 13 to see which of the two giants will end the season with a trophy.

The match comes just 8 days after CSKA’s jubilee, 50th anniversary, and the Reds feel they owe it to their fans to beat Levski. However, Petar Zehtinski’s team has many problems before the final, as Hristo Stoichkov and Trifon Ivanov have injuries that prevent them from playing in the match, which also misses Metodi Deyanov. Stoichkov, however, is in the group for the final, but he did not play in the decisive match, for which Georgi Yordanov and Boncho Genchev were called up, the latter of whom played with a bandage on his knee and on injections.

In the days before the final of “Vasil Levski”, a very curious situation related to the doors of the stadium was reached. According to a journalistic check, the two doors are lower than the regulated 2.44 meters. For unknown reasons, the door in front of Sector “B” is 12 cm lower, and the door in front of Sector “G” is 8 cm lower. Legend has it that the reason for this was an attempt to cheat for the world qualification with Russia on September 10, 1997, which ended in success for ours with 1:0 at “Vasyl Levski”. The Bulgarian Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is also investigating the case. Later it became clear that the cause of the doors sinking into the ground was a broken water pipe on Graf Ignatiev Street, which caused the door from Sector “B” to sink, but did not explain the lower opposite door of the National Stadium.

The finale:

After this series of curious and at times scandalous situations, Levski and CSKA went to the National Stadium on May 13, 1998 under the leadership of German referee Markus Merck to determine the winner of the Bulgarian Cup.

The match started evenly, but in the 14th minute, Levski took the lead with a goal by Nikolay Todorov-Kaizera.

After him, CSKA launched a massed attack, but luck turned its back on the “armies”, as Zhabov and Kostadinov hit the posts. Doncho Donev scored for Levski with a shot on the crossbar, before the 33rd minute came, when the “blues” were jubilant again – Kriviya scored for 2:0! On the bench of CSKA stands the disgruntled Hristo Stoichkov, who, enraged by the bad result, starts to go home to the dressing room, when he is provoked by the stands and starts a fight with a Levski fan, but is stopped by the then technical director of the “blues” Andrey Zhelyazkov .

On the pitch, things are going from bad to worse for CSKA, which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, because in the 47th minute, Doncho Donev adjusts his aim and hits Radostin Stanev’s goal – 3:0 for Levski!

Donev continues to run rampant in CSKA’s half and in the 71st minute he assisted Georgi Ivanov so that Gonzo could score the fourth goal in the “army team’s” net.

Seconds before the end of regular time, Donev again sends a sharp ball into Radostin Stanev’s penalty area and there Georgi Yordanov-Lamyata scores an own goal, thus sealing the success for the “blues” with 5:0!

Before that, only once a team had won the Bulgarian Cup after winning by 5 or more goals in the final and that was again Levski, who in 1992 defeated Pirin Blagoevgrad in the dispute for the trophy.

To this day, there has not been such an expressive victory in the final of the Cup, as that of Levski over CSKA in 1998. The “Reds” became a rezil on the eve of their half-century anniversary. For their victory, the “blues” receive bonuses of 5,000 German marks each. Apart from the monetary prize, Levski’s football players have the satisfaction of defeating their great rival and winning a trophy.

Levski took revenge on the “reds” in the sweetest way for last year’s defeat in the final, defeating them on the eve of his 50th anniversary with a symbolic 5:0, after which the Cup goes to Levski, and for CSKA there remains one symbolic “congratulations” for the holiday by the crowd of the winners who chanted “Happy Anniversary” after the match.

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