Lothar Matthaeus, Wolfgang Overath, Guenter Netzer, Mehmet Scholl, Michael Ballack… these are just some of the great German midfielders to grace the Bundesliga. The league has in its history also attracted top talents in the middle area of the park, especially attack-minded players like Kevin Keegan, Krasimir Balakov and Franck Ribery.
One third of Stuttgart’s “magic triangle” along with Fredi Bobic and Giovane Elber, attacking midfielder Krasimir Balakov is also among the best Bulgarians to play in the Bundesliga. The fourth-most-capped player in his country’s history, Balakov made 92 appearances for Bulgaria.
Balakov was named to the 1994 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team for his part in Bulgaria’s fourth-place finish at the tournament. And impressively, he played at Stuttgart until the age of 37.
