• Hristo Stoichkov was the joint-top scorer at the 1994 FIFA World Cup

• The Bulgarian striker won Ballon d'Or in 1994

• He won four La Liga titles and one Champions League with Barcelona

Jayanta Oinam

A couple of generational talents opened up the world's eyes to Eastern European football in 1994. The setting: the FIFA World Cup in the United States of America! Bulgaria and Romania joined five other European teams in the last eight with Italy eventually losing to Brazil in the final. The driving forces behind the Balkan teams were Hristo Stoichkov, for Bulgaria, and Gheorghe Hagi, for Romania. Surprisingly, they also shared the dressing room at Camp Nou, playing under Johan Cruyff. Both Stoichkov and Hagi would retire as the greatest footballers of their respective countries, but it was the former who became an indispensable part of Barcelona’s Dream Team. Hristo Stoichkov, having scored three goals against Barcelona during the European European Cup Winners' Cup semis, arrived at Camp Nou in the summer of 1990 and soon became a beloved figure there, helping the Catalans topple Real Madrid's Vulture Squad, or La Quinta del Buitre, as the most dominant force in Spain.

The Bulgarian, along with Brazilian Romario – the best player at the 1994 FIFA World Cup – and Danish great Michael Laudrup formed Barcelona's own trinity, helping Blaugrana to four successive Liga Liga titles and also the club's first-ever UEFA Champions League trrophy in 1992. But Hristo Stoichkov’s Barcelona stint started on an ominous note. In his first season at Camp Nou, the striker from the village of Yasno Pole of Plovdiv was suspended for two months for stomping on the referee's foot during his El Clasico debut against Real Madrid, the winners of the five previous La Liga editions. That much-publicised incident was only a part of his many transgressions. At CSKA Sofia, where his career took the shape as a cult figure, Stoichkov was handed an initial lifetime ban following a brawl during the 1985 Bulgarian Cup final against eternal rivals Levski Sofia. The ban, however, was reduced to a suspension for one year. That, also, was in his first season with the most successful club in Bulgaria. Regarded as one of the finest talents ever to play the game, Stoichkov started his career at local outfit Maritsa Plovdiv and spent a season with FC Hebros, who go by the nickname of Daggers – interestingly, one of the monikers Stoichkov would assume later in his storied career. He was also called the Gunslinger (El Pistolero) by Barcelona fans for his shooting ability, and of course the Boss, an obvious reference to his dominating presence on the field. In 1984, he joined CSKA Sofia and won three back-to-back A Group (Bulgaria's first division) titles in 1986-87, 1988-89 and 1989-90. There, he also lifted five Bulgarian Cup and Soviet Army Cup trophies before leaving for Spain, aged 24. Then, Stoichkov joined Barcelona as the most prolific scorer in Europe, the winner of the Golden Boot in 1990 – 38 goals in 30 league matches during his final season at CSKA.

At Barcelona, he became a global superstar. An impulsive character known for his fighting spirit, Stoichkov was a gifted player with immense ball skill, and he could play in a variety of positions. Under Cruyff, he would usually play on the left wing, especially after the arrival of Romario in 1993. But the Bulgarian was equally adept in other positions, employing his explosive speed and brilliant passing range to good effect, and often starting from the deep. In fact, Stoichkov used to play as a full-back during his formative years. He was also a set-piece specialist. Matching those outrageous skills was his aggression. To many Barcelona fans, there is only one Hristo Stoichkov. He was always ready to lead the team, and if possible, ratchet up the tension to a fault. "Before Stoichkov came, we had a team of very nice people. But you can't just have a team of very nice people," Cruyff said following the Bulgarian's suspension. "You need someone like Stoichkov who is aggressive in a positive way. He goes for the ball and when he gets the ball he shoots at goal." And Stoichkov scored plenty of goals for Barcelona, to be precise 83 in 175 matches during his two spells at Camp Nou. Stoichkov left Barcelona after five seasons to join Serie A outfit Parma in 1995, only to return the following year. And in 1998, he started his own world tour, playing for clubs in Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United States.

During a 13-year international career, Hristo Stoichkov played 83 times and scored 37 goals, including some of the biggest in the history of Bulgarian football. He scored five goals to help Bulgaria qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals in the United States of America, where he was the tournament's top-scorer, sharing honours with Russian Oleg Salenko – six each. Bulgaria, making a return to FIFA World Cup after missing the previous edition in Italy, suffered a 3-0 thrashing from Nigeria in their group opener. But the Lions, as the Bulgarian team is colloquially known, beat Greece 4-0 then blanked Argentina 2-0 to finish second behind the Africans in the group. A 3-1 win on penalties over Mexico helped Bulgaria set up a meeting with defending champions Germany in the quarters, and Stoichkov came to the fore once again, scoring the equaliser in the 75th minute before Yordan Letchkov's winner three minutes later. They, however, were undone by a sensational four-minute brace from Baggio in the semis despite a Stoichkov goal. Subsequently, they also lost the third-place play-off to Sweden, 4-0, following a first-half melt-down at Rose Bowl. Stoichkov continued to serve the national team, helping the Lions to their first-ever European Championship qualification in 1996. He was also part of the team that competed at the 1996 FIFA World Cup. The five-time Bulgarian Footballer of the Year won the Ballon d'Or in 1994, having missed out on the award in 1992 to AC Milan's Dutch forward Marco van Basten. He came close to winning the FIFA World Player of the Year, twice in 1992 and 1994, but finished second to van Basten and Romario, respectively. After retirement, he embarked on a coaching career albeit with very limited success. And in 1994, while collecting his Ballon d’Or, the Bulgarian declared that “There are only two Christs; one plays for Barcelona, the other is in heaven." That, in his own words, was his football career.