WORLD CUP USA ‘94: SEMIFINALS : Spotlight : ANYBODY KNOW ANY BULGARIAN? OR A BULGARIAN?

Bulgaria’s upset of Germany has sent organizers scrambling for translators.

Who would have thought? Until this tournament, Bulgaria had not won a game in six previous World Cup appearances.

The 44 translators hired for the World Cup speak 11 languages ranging from Arabic to Spanish.

Alison Leigh Hofflich, head of World Cup language services for Giants Stadium, told the Associated Press there seemed little reason to hire a Bulgarian translator.

“We pretty much figured they wouldn’t be here,” she said.

In a bind before Sunday’s quarterfinal game at East Rutherford, N.J., Hofflich contacted Columbia University and persuaded three Bulgarian students to work gratis.

“They don’t even get a T-shirt . . . but they’ll have this experience the rest of their life,” she said.

Hofflich admits that her Bulgarian is nonexistent. She speaks “salad dressing” languages.

French, Russian and Italian.