The head coach of the Bulgarian men's national team, Gianlorenzo Blengini, will be among the main figures in Teodor Salparov's testimonial match "One Career - One Legend," which will take place on September 5th at 4:30 PM in Sofia's "Arena 8888." This was announced by the event organizers.
Just a few days before the start of the European Championship, Blengini himself will lead the team of foreign volleyball stars. For the Italian specialist, this will be his first encounter with the atmosphere in the full Sofia hall, where he will later lead the Bulgarian national team in the championship of the Old Continent.
The staff of the international squad will be reinforced by two more well-known specialists. Working alongside Blengini will be Alberto Giuliani, who briefly coached Salparov at Hebar, Pazardzhik in 2023. The Italian is also well-known to Bulgarian fans for his successful period at Cuneo, where, together with Vladimir Nikolov, he won the championship title, the Italian Cup, and the Supercup of the country. In his rich career, Giuliani has become a club champion in every country where he has led a team for a full season, and with Slovenia, he reached two consecutive European Championship finals in 2019 and 2021.
The third coach in the foreigners' staff will be the Brazilian Alberto Chiapparini. An interesting detail is that he will be the coach of Teodor Salparov's son, Georgi, in the Tusculum University team in the United States.
The team of Bulgarian legends will also be led by an impressive coaching staff, composed of specialists who left the most significant mark on Salparov's career. At the helm is Alexander Popov - the coach who gave him his start at CSKA, and in 2002, the two won the libero's first men's trophy - the Bulgarian Cup. Popov was also an assistant coach to Milorad Kijac during Salparov's debut in the national team in 2003. Alongside him will be Martin Stoev, who led Bulgaria to bronze medals at the 2006 World Championship, the 2007 World Cup, and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Radostin Stoychev, who qualified the national team for the 2012 London Olympics, as well as Nayden Naydenov, under whose leadership Bulgaria finished fourth at the Games in the English capital.
The testimonial match "One Career - One Legend" will be broadcast live on bTV and will take place immediately before the start of EuroVolley 2026, which Bulgaria is co-hosting.
The organizers also announced that in addition to standard passes, VIP tickets are now available. The proceeds from these will be donated to the "Sunny Children" foundation, which works to build a home for children with special needs. VIP ticket holders will receive seats directly next to the playing field, a special limited edition bottle of wine created for the testimonial, as well as access to the official after-party at the Ozone Skybar of the "Millennium" hotel, where they will have the opportunity to meet volleyball legends and special guests of the event.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov