A first-half goal from forward Martin Petrov gave Bulgaria a 1-0 win over Cyprus in an international friendly on Tuesday.
Petrov sprinted behind a lethargic Cypriot defense to pick up a loose ball, dribble around goalkeeper Antonis Georgallidis and score into an open net in the 35th minute.
Cyprus could have taken the lead in the 19th, but Alexandros Garpozis' header was ruled out after he was judged to be offside.
Cyprus coach Angelos Anastasiades cast doubt on the offside call and called Bulgaria's goal a ''silly one'' for his team to allow.
''We shouldn't have lost, a draw would have been a fairer result,'' Anastasiades said, adding that some players weren't in the best shape but he was pleased with their overall effort.
The two teams have met a dozen times previously, with Bulgaria earning 11 victories. Cyprus' sole success was a 4-1 win at home in a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup.
The Bulgarians shook off some early jitters and starting pushing forward after Garpozis' header was disallowed.
Tsvetan Genkov's 25th-minute header from Stanislav Manolev's cross sailed high over the Cypriot crossbar. Three minutes later, an unmarked Manolev mishit a volley attempt from 12 yards out, pushing the ball wide of the post.
Georgallidis made a diving save to stop Petrov's low, hard shot from 22 yards in the 50th, while Petar Zanev's 25-yard blast just went over the Cypriot bar 10 minutes later.
Cyprus could have equalized when Bulgaria goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov blocked Nestoras Mytidis' close-range effort in the 63rd.
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Lineups:
Cyprus: Antonis Georgallidis, Marios Ilia, Alexandros Garpozis, Sinisa Dobrasinovic (Giorgios Merkis, 46), Elias Charalambous, Jason Demetriou (Andreas Avraam, 46), Marinos Satsias, Kyriakos Pavlou (Constantinos Charalambides, 46), Giorgos Efrem (Dimitris Christofi, 69), Nektarios Alexandrou (Chrysostomos Michail, 46), Nestor Mytidis (Konstantinos Makridis, 66).
Bulgaria: Vladislav Stoyanov, Ivan Bandalovski, Kostadin Stoyanov, Ivan Ivanov, Petar Zanev, Vladimir Gadzhev, Stiliyan Petrov, Stanislav Manolev (Nikolay Dimitrov, 64), Hristo Yanev, Martin Petrov (Spas Delev, 90), Tsvetan Genkov.
