During the international break in September, ten Botev players were part of their national teams, and here’s how they performed.
Nikola Iliev started as a starter for the Bulgaria U21 team in a 1-3 loss to Poland in a qualification match for the 2025 European Championship. Atanas Chernev, who recently recovered from an injury, was also in the squad, but the central defender did not participate in the match. The right-back Dimitar Papazov, who transferred from Botev to Bologna this summer, made his debut for the Bulgaria U21 team.
Three of the “Canaries” players were part of the Bulgaria U19 national team camp and played in two friendly matches against Malta. Both matches ended in draws — 0:0 and 1:1. Central defender Ivaylo Videv started both matches as a starter, and in the first one, he wore the captain’s armband. Veliyan Vidolov and Emil Naydenov came off the bench in the first match, while they both started the second from the first minute.
Estonia, with Jonas Tam and Matvei Igonen, began their participation in the Nations League with two losses — 0:1 at home to Slovakia and 0:3 away to Sweden. In both matches, Tam started as a regular, while Igonen did not record any playing time.
Botev’s defender Antoine Conte participated in one of Guinea’s two matches at the start of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Conte started against Tanzania, where his team lost 1:2. A few days earlier, Guinea also suffered a defeat away to Congo, but the defender did not participate in that match.
Matiyus Remeikis did not record any minutes in the European qualification match for Latvia’s U21 team against the Czech Republic. Faustus Steponavicius, who is on loan from Botev to Septemvri, started from the first minute, but Latvia ultimately lost 1:2.
Edgar Piloian started as a regular and stayed on the field until the 79th minute in Armenia U21’s 1:3 loss to Finland. The match in Yerevan was part of the qualification for the 2025 European Championship in Slovenia.
