Matthäus relieved of Bulgaria duties

Lothar Matthäus has been relieved of his duties as Bulgaria coach following a string of disappointing results during his side's UEFA EURO 2012 Group G qualifying campaign.

The former German international, who took charge of the Bulgarian national team following the resignation of Stanimir Stoilov just under a year ago, was due to remain in charge until the end of UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying, but will not now be required to see out his contract.

The 50-year-old, whose side managed just one victory in seven UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers and are lying two points from the foot of Group G, is to be replaced by Bulgaria's Under-21 coach Mihail Madanski for the final home match against Wales in Sofia on 11 October, and a friendly against Ukraine four days earlier.

"Matthäus's contract will be not be extended," confirmed the Bulgarian Football Association (BFU) president Borislav Mihailov. "We had to go our separate ways because of poor results. Mihail Madanski will take charge of the next two games against Ukraine and Wales and we will see who will take full charge of the team thereafter."

A former assistant coach at CSKA Sofia and PFC Litex Lovech, Madanski, 54, has been in charge of various Bulgarian national youth teams since 2007.

Matthäus, Germany's most-capped player, made 150 appearances for his country, winning the 1980 UEFA European Championship and captaining the squad to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup – though he suffered a quarter-final defeat by Mihailov's Bulgaria four years later.

The former FC Bayern München and FC Internazionale Milano midfielder has had an itinerant coaching career, taking charge of clubs in Austria, Serbia, Brazil and Israel, and from 2003 to 2005, the Hungarian national team.