Bulgarian and world football legend Hristo Stoichkov has signed a contract with South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns football club to take the post of head coach, private national terrestrial Nova Televisia said on June 24 2009.
 
Speculations about Stoichkov taking over the club have circulated for a week, but this was the first time Bulgarian media reported the news.
 
So far the club has neither confirmed nor denied the information. What is known is that Stoichkov is currently in South Africa to watch the ongoing Confederations Cup tournament and rumours claim the contact with Mamelodi Sundowns was signed thanks to Stoichkov’s former club Barcelona.
 
The deal was allegedly stuck in Johannesburg’s Michelangelo luxury hotel between Stoichkov and Mamelodi Sundowns’ president and owner Patrice Motsepe, a leading South African businessman often described as one of the richest people in Africa.
 
Motsepe is mainly in the business of mining, with interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum.
 
Mamelodi Sundowns was formed in 1960s in an area north-west from Pretoria. It plays its matches in Atteridgeville, an area west from Pretoria at its Super stadium with a seat capacity of 28 900 seats.
 
It is the most successful club in the history of the South Africa’s Premier Soccer League with five league championships since its inception in 1996.
The club’s nickname is The Brazilians, which is a reference to players’ uniforms that resemble those worn by the Brazil national team.
 
Because of its rich owner, the club is often compared to Chelsea FC.

The team has been without a coach since the departure of Frenchman Henri Michel two months ago.
 
Stoichkov’s two previous appointments as coach were at Spanish Celta Vigo club and at the Bulgarian National Team, a position he took shortly after ending his professional football player career in 2003.
 
In both positions however he failed to achieve any substantial results and was often criticised by the media for his decisions.
 
As a football player, however, he is one of the most successful Bulgarian and European players ever. He was named as European football payer of the year in 1994 and holds a number of individual and club trophies. His most notable success came when he played for Barcelona, with whom he won four domestic titles and a European Cup in 1992.
 
With him on board, Bulgaria won fourth place at the 1994 World Cup in the US with Stoichkov finishing as one of the two top scorers of the tournament