Petrov back for Bulgaria friendly
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SOFIA, July 31 (Reuters) - Celtic midfielder Stilian Petrov, who suffered a badly broken leg in March, has been named in Bulgaria's squad for their home friendly against Macedonia on August 15.
Petrov, 22, suffered a double fracture to his right leg during a Scottish premier league game against St Johnstone, an injury which was originally feared could keep him out for nine months.
"The fact that I have called him means that everything is ok with him and he will be able to play," local news agency BTA quoted Bulgaria coach Stoicho Mladenov as saying on Tuesday.
Mladenov named 10 other foreign-based players in his squad, including team captain Krassimir Balakov from Germany's Stuttgart and strikers Svetoslav Todorov from West Ham United and Martin Petrov from Wolfsburg.
The remaining members of the 18-strong squad, who play in the domestic championship, will be named after August 8.
The friendly is part of Bulgaria's preparations for the World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Denmark in September and the Czech Republic in October.
Bulgaria lie third on 14 points from seven games in European qualifying group three. Denmark top the group with 15 points followed by the Czech Republic with 14 points.
Kaiserslautern's Marian Hristov and Radostin Kishishev from Charlton Athletic will miss the friendly and the qualifiers after undergoing ankle operations.
Squad:
Goalkeeper: Zdravko Zdravkov (Istanbulspor)
Defenders: Predrag Pazhin (Kocaelispor), Rossen Kirilov (Adanaspor), Krassimir Chomakov (Lecce)
Midfielders: Krassimir Balakov (Stuttgart), Stilian Petrov (Celtic), Georgi Peev (Dinamo Kiev), Milen Petkov (AEK Athens), Stoicho Stoilov (Nuremberg)
Forwards: Svetoslav Todorov (West Ham United), Martin Petrov (Wolfsburg).
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