Turkey Defeats Bulgaria 4:0 Ahead of Vital Euro 2016 Qualifier

The Bulgarian men's national football team suffered a heavy defeat in a friendly game against Turkey, which was played in Istanbul on Monday.

The Bulgarians lost 0:4 several days before the vital UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Malta, which will be played in Ta' Qali on Friday.

The hosts scored all four goals in the second half of the game with Hakan Calhanoglu and Burak Yilmaz scoring two goals each.

This was the first defeat of the recently appointed Bulgarian coach Ivaylo Petev and the team has not yet recorded a victory under his guidance.

The hosts were more active throughout the first half of the game, but the Bulgarians also demonstrated a decent performance.

The start of the second half turned out to be a nightmare for the Bulgarians, who conceded three goals in the space of seven minutes.

The opening goal came four minutes after half-time with an excellent free kick by Calhanoglu, who scored a second goal five minutes later.

Yilmaz added a third goal two minutes later, before scoring the last goal ten minutes before the final whistle.

Meanwhile, Malta recorded a surprising 2:0 victory in a friendly game against Lithuania in Ta' Qali.

Bulgaria and Malta met for the last time in Sofia in November 2014, when the two teams drew 1-1 in matchday 4 of the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

At present, Bulgaria occupies fourth place in qualification Group H with five points behind the teams of Croatia, Italy and Norway.