Bulgaria cruise into finals

Bulgaria moved into the finals of UEFA EURO 2004™ with a comfortable 3-0 win away to Andorra.

Top of the table
The result left Bulgaria top of Group 8 with 17 points from seven games, and Belgium's victory against Croatia confirmed their place in Portugal. Andorra, meanwhile, ended their qualifying campaign bottom of the table, pointless and with a single goal to their name after eight matches.

Early advantage
Any early Bulgarian nerves were calmed in the tenth minute, as Georgi Peev's corner was met by Dimitar Berbatov who headed into the net from near the penalty spot.

Decisive second
The away side effectively sealed the points 13 minutes later as midfield player Daniel Borimirov's pass over the top of the defence set Berbatov clear of the offside trap and the Bayer 04 Leverkusen striker kept his head and slipped the ball under Andorran goalkeeper Koldo Alvárez to double Bulgaria's lead.

Goalmouth scramble
Martin Petrov almost made it 3-0 with a well-struck free-kick that hit the woodwork before Bulgaria completed the scoring 13 minutes into the second period as 1. FC Kaiserslautern midfield player Marian Hristov latched on to a loose ball after a goalmouth scramble to notch the third.

Late red card
Andorra ended the match with ten men after defender Francesc Ramírez was shown a late red card for a foul on Borimirov five minutes from time.