International Career
Stilyan Petrov made his debut for Bulgaria on 23 December 1998 in a friendly match against Morocco. The match was played in Agadir, Morocco and finished with a 4–1 win for the North Africans. He scored his first goal for the national side in another friendly match against Belarus (4–1) on 29 March 2000. On 12 October 2006 Petrov, then captain of Bulgaria, announced his decision to retire from international football at the age of 27 as long as Hristo Stoichkov manages the Bulgaria national team. However, on 20 March 2007 he made amends with Stoichkov and made himself available for selection again. However, he did not recover his position as national captain because it was decided that Dimitar Berbatov would retain the captain's armband. On 14 January 2010, it was announced that Petrov had come second in Bulgaria's Player of the Year. Petrov was renamed captain of the Bulgarian side again following the retirement of Berbatov from international football in 2010. On 26 March 2011, Petrov earned his 100th cap for Bulgaria in the 0–0 home draw with Switzerland in a Euro 2012 qualifier. He received a flower bouquet from Borislav Mikhailov and was applauded by the spectators prior to the start of the match.
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