Bulgaria v Georgia, Group 8 World Cup 2010

14 Oct 2009

Played in Sofia at 7 o'clock Irish time.

Bulgaria 6-2 Georgia - A first-half hat-trick from hotshot Dimitar Berbatov left Georgia reeling.

Bulgaria set about annihilating Georgia in the final game of Group 8 as if they were taking out their frustration at not qualifying for next year's World Cup on the nearest victim. Unfortunately for the semi-finalists of USA '94, it wouldn't have mattered if they had put twenty past Giorgi Lomaia because they'd already booked a holiday next summer with the 4-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of Cyprus at the weekend.

As the first half came to an end, however, it looked as if Stanimir Stoilov's team might end up with more goals than they had managed in the whole campaign.

Dimitar Berbatov took just six minutes to get his name on the scoresheet after Martin Petrov delivered a cross into the box and the Manchester United striker curled the ball lazily past the 'keeper. By the time the half-time whistle went he had bagged himself a hat-trick. Martin Petrov also scored twice and Stanislav Angelov left two players standing and slotted the ball home to score the most stylish strike of the night. Bulgaria had a 6-1 lead at the break.

In comparison, the second period was like a quiet walk in the park.

Georgia's Levan Kobiashvilli briefly threatened to spark an unlikely  comeback when he slotted away a penalty on 51 minutes but Levan Khmaladze's second booking and subsequent red card seven minutes later put paid to any notion of that.

For the already disappointed Bulgaria, so many goals can rarely have felt so pointless. They finish in third place and as we all know, third place is nowhere.