Bulgaria - Wales 0:1

Bulgaria - Wales 0:1

Bulgaria lost its friendly game against Wales on Wednesday, 0-1, thanks to Freddy Eastwood's solitary strike in the first half. English-born Eastwood, who is eligible to play for Wales because his maternal grandmother was born there, looked the most dangerous player in John Toshack's youthful squad. Wales seemed content to sit back and soak the pressure from the hosts, but looked dangerous on the counterattack.

Eastwood tested Bulgarian goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov on several occasions, finally beating him with a 20-yard strike just as Greek referee Mechalis Germanakos was preparing to blow his whistle to signal the end of the first half.

Bulgarian manager Dimitar Penev, back in the dugout ten years after his first spell in charge came to an end, changed three of his starters at half time and it almost paid off instantly.

Velizar Dimitrov's shot was cleared into corner after a deflection, but CSKA's attacking midfielder remained the source of Bulgaria's most dangerous attacks as the hosts sought an equalizer.

Wales captain Danny Gabbidon almost scored an own goal in the 76th minute trying to clear a cross from Ivelin Popov, but the ball hit the post and trickled across the goalmouth, with no-one on hand to tap it in.

Dimitrov and Manchester City winger Martin Petrov came close to scoring in the final minutes of the match, but Wales' resolute defense battled to get the win despite the hosts' domination.