Petrov shocks Bulgaria by quitting

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SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Bulgaria captain Stilian Petrov has quit international football, saying he does not want to play under national coach Hristo Stoichkov.

"I don't want to play under the guidance of Hristo Stoichkov," said the Aston Villa midfielder. "My decision comes as a result of many events since Stoichkov took over."

Earlier, Stoichkov said there had been no row between the two men.

"There's no conflict between me and Stilian," said Stoichkov after returning from Wednesday's 1-0 win over Luxembourg in a Euro 2008 Group G qualifier.

"He is a very important figure in our squad, he's our captain and will remain our captain while I'm the coach."

Petrov said he would continue to support Bulgaria, who are second in the group table, despite making his shock announcement.

"From the bottom of my heart I hope they qualify for the Euro 2008 finals," said the 27-year-old former CSKA Sofia and Celtic midfielder.

The skilful Petrov, who scored seven goals in 66 appearances for his country, joined Premier League side Villa from Scottish champions Celtic in August for eight million pounds ($14.86 million).

Stoichkov is hoping Petrov will reassess his decision. "There's a lot of time until our next match and I think we don't have to say anything rashly," said Bulgaria's coach. "It's possible this was made out of emotion.

"I have no idea why he made this step but he has always been a tough guy and we'll have to respect his decision."

"It was like a bolt from the blue," said striker Dimitar Berbatov. "He shared his intention with all of us last night after the match and we stayed late trying to persuade him to change his mind.

"We still hope he'll change his decision. We are all very surprised but as you know time heals and we hope he'll be with us in our next game," added the Tottenham Hotspur forward.

"It's a very unpleasant situation because he's one of our key players," said Bulgarian Football Union president Borislav Mihailov.

"It's astonishing. No one expected such news. It came in a moment when we have a very good atmosphere in the team and we're achieving positive results in our group."

Bulgaria have won two and drawn two in Group G and lie two points behind leaders the Netherlands.

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