Almost 11 years after making his international debut for Bulgaria against Italy at Euro 2004, Bojinov could be set for a second coming against the Azzurri as he rebuilds his troubled career in Serie B.
The debate over whether Italy coach Antonio Conte was correct to call-up two oriundi, or foreign players of Italian ancestry, has dominated the build-up to Italy’s Euro 2016 qualifying match against Bulgaria on Saturday.
But the decision of new Bulgaria coach Ivaylo Petev to recall Valeri Bojinov for the first time since an international friendly against Kazakhstan in June 2013 may also have also caught the attention of a few Serie A aficionados.
Born in Bulgaria, discovered as a boy playing in Malta by Lecce sporting director Pantaleo Corvino and then turned into a teenage sensation in the Baroque city, Bojinov himself could have qualified to play for Italy through joint-citizenship.
Instead, he made his debut for the country of his birth, aged 18, against the Azzurri as a second half replacement for Zoran Jankovic, when unbeaten Italy were controversially eliminated from Euro 2004 on head-to-head record.
The youngest non-Italian to play in Serie A making his debut as a 15-year-old in a 3–1 defeat to Brescia January 27, 2002, Bojinov was a surprise inclusion in Bulgaria’s Euro 2004 squad after starring alongside the prolific Javier Chevanton at Lecce.
While his strike partner was lured to Monaco following a 10th place finish, Bojinov flourished during the first half of the 2004-05 season under the guidance of new coach Zdenek Zeman, scoring 11 goals in 20 Serie A appearances.
Heralded as the ‘new Hristo Stoichkov’ and ‘Serie A’s answer to Wayne Rooney’, the starlet was widely considered one of the most promising players in Italy when he moved to Fiorentina for a reported fee of €13 million on January 31 2005.
However, career-threatening injuries, contract disputes and a succession of high-profile altercations have since halted his predestined rise to superstardom.
His temperament was called into question after a number of disciplinary incidents at Fiorentina before departing for Manchester City in 2007, amid accusations that former mentor Corvino had forced him out of the club, following the former Lecce sporting director’s move to Tuscany.
Frustrated at being the fifth-choice forward at times during a season-long loan in Serie B at Juventus, prior to his €8.5 million move to the English Premier League, his Manchester City career was then marred by knee ligament and achilles tendon injuries before returning to Serie A with Parma in 2009.
In spite of mostly appearing as a substitute during his two years at the Stadio Ennio Tardini, Sporting Clube were convinced to pay Parma €2.6 million and offer Bojinov a lucrative five-year contract in the summer of 2011.
However, the Bulgarian would hit a new low when he was vilified for missing an injury-time penalty in a Taca da Liga cup match against Moreirense in January 19, 2012.
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Bojinov had pushed regular penalty-taker Matias Fernandez away to take the spot-kick and was subsequently banned by the club from entering the stadium and training ground as punishment.
Twelve days after the penalty incident, the forward returned to Lecce on loan for the remainder of the season but could not prevent the Giallorossi from relegation to Serie B.
Unsuccessful loan spells at Hellas Verona and Veneto rivals Vicenza followed, before finally being allowed to join Levski Sofia on a permanent deal in February 2014, having had terminated his Sporting contract the previous September.
After making five appearances for Levski at the beginning of the 2014-15 season, Bojinov rescinded another contract at the Stadion Georgi Asparuhov and joined Serie B side Ternana on a one-year deal on September 6 2014.
He has since become something of a fan favourite after scoring against Umbrian rivals Perugia in a 2–2 draw on November 14, although the Rossoverdi are in danger of the drop as they currently sit in the relegation play-offs.
Once tipped to reach the highest levels of football, the former teenage sensation could suffer relegation to Lega Pro for the second time in three seasons after going down with Vicenza in 2013.
But Bojinov insists that he has no regrets about the decisions made throughout his career after being given another surprise call-up against the Azzurri this Saturday in Sofia.
“I am not crying about it even if after knee and achilles tendon injuries it is hard to go on as I did before,” Bojinov told La Repubblica in an interview on Monday.
“Now I am thinking about Ternana, I have returned to the Bulgarian national team, the next goal is to get back to Serie A. I just need a chance, someone who believes in me.
“People say that I am old and am finished, but I am 29-years-old and can still get back to my best.”
