WORLD CUP USA ‘94: QUARTERFINALS : Pressure Still on Germany : Soccer: Defending champions must get past Stoitchkov and Bulgaria today to reach semifinals.

Bulgaria’s coach, Dimitar Penev, well remembers the last and only time his country played Germany in a World Cup game.

That was in Leon, Mexico, in 1970. Germany was still West Germany in those days, of course, but it made no difference. The Germans were still an irresistible force going up against a decidedly movable object.

Penev was a defender on the Bulgarian team that afternoon at Guanajuato Stadium, and the Germans made it a long and frustrating game for the Bulgarians, scoring a 5-2 victory, with German forward Gerd (Der Bomber) Mueller netting three of his World Cup-record 14 goals.

There were two other players on the field that day who also will be involved in today’s rematch at Giants Stadium.

Berti Vogts, now the German coach, was a defender that afternoon, playing in front of goalkeeper Sepp Maier, now Germany’s goalkeeping coach.

But that’s where the similarities stop and the differences begin.

Then, the second-round game attracted 12,700 fans. Now, the teams’ quarterfinal meeting will attract more than 70,000.

Then, the Bulgarians were headed nowhere in a hurry. Now, they have a chance to reach the semifinals.

Then, the Germans went on to finish third and, four years later, to win the World Cup. Now, they are trying to defend the trophy they won four years ago in Italy.

Germany might still be the irresistible force, sparked by forwards Juergen Klinsmann and Rudi Voeller, but Bulgaria is not anything like the team it was in 1970.

The fall of communism and the subsequent move of many of the country’s leading players to top clubs in Western Europe has added invaluable experience to the Bulgarian lineup. No fewer than 13 of the players on Penev’s team earn their living abroad.

The most famous of these, of course, is Hristo Stoitchkov, the 28-year-old forward considered to be the greatest player Bulgaria has ever produced. Exactly who will be assigned to stop him Vogts is not saying, but whoever is given the task is in for a long afternoon.

“We are aware there is more pressure on Germany than on us,” Stoitchkov said. “We hope to exploit that.”

So far in this World Cup, Stoitchkov has baffled defenders and dazzled fans with his spectacular left-footed goals. The temperamental Barcelona star has scored four, two against Greece and one each against Argentina and Mexico.

But the German defense will also have to contend with forward Emil Kostadinov, who plays his club soccer for FC Porto in Portugal and is a capable scorer in his own right.

One of the keys to the game, however, is likely to be the way Germany handles midfielder Krasimir Balakov, whose intelligence, vision and dribbling skills make him the creative force behind Bulgaria’s offense.

The same is true of Thomas Haessler on the other side of the field. The diminutive German, sometimes nicknamed Tom Thumb in the British press, gets nowhere near the attention his play deserves. He is a nonstop runner who often seems to be in two places at once, here one moment setting up a goal for Klinsmann with a pinpoint pass, there the next leaping to head the ball away and thwart an opposing attack.

Germany comes into the game as the favorite, as befits the reigning world champion, but its defense will have to be particularly watchful. The Germans are susceptible to fast counterattacks, as was shown by the South Koreans, and Bulgaria knows how to play that game. Just ask Argentina, which was beaten, 2-0, by the Bulgarians.

A lot of the defensive responsibility will rest on the shoulders of German captain and sweeper Lothar Matthaeus, who will be playing in his 21st World Cup match, tying the record shared by his compatriot, Uwe Seeler, Poland’s Wladyslaw Zmuda and Argentina’s Diego Maradona.

The Germans have had six days’ rest after defeating Belgium, 3-2, in Chicago last Saturday. The Bulgarians have had three days’ rest after a two-hour struggle with Mexico, which they tied, 1-1, and then won on penalty kicks, 3-1, last Tuesday. The difference could be the difference.

Look for the Bulgarians to play a defensive game, attacking only on the break and, if they can get a tie, relying on goalkeeper Borislav Mihaylov to provide the heroics when it goes to penalty kicks.

Look for the Germans to attack and for Klinsmann to get his sixth goal of the tournament, moving him into a tie with Russia’s Oleg Salenkov for the scoring title.

The last word belongs to Penev, who does not foresee Bulgaria folding as it did against the Germans 24 years ago.

“We have to play against them like we did against Argentina,” he said. “If we do that, we could win.”