WORLD CUP USA ‘94: SEMIFINALS : Spotlight : HRISTO FOR PRESIDENT

“Bulgaria was a one-party state in the early hours of Thursday--the party being a mass get-together to mark Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal.

“Even before the first thud of football boot on leather in New Jersey Wednesday, tens of thousands were swarming toward Bulgaria Square in Sofia, preparing to celebrate victory at best, or the fact the national team had come so far. Win or lose, Bulgarians at home and abroad were bent on a celebration, which many predicted would eclipse even the euphoria which marked the fall of communism four years ago. ‘No one will go to work in Bulgaria tomorrow,’ said one Sofia journalist Wednesday night.

“The nation is so overwhelmed that newspapers in Sofia have even been suggesting that striker Hristo Stoitchkov should run for president.

“The current incumbent of that post, Zhelyu Zhelev, was moved to say that Bulgaria’s success in the World Cup would change the country.

“ ‘The transition that we are going through is very difficult, and I hope that football will make things easier for other things that will happen in Bulgaria,’ Mr. Zhelev said before leaving Sofia to watch the match in America. ‘In any event, after this World Cup championship, Bulgaria will not be the same, and the Bulgarian nation will not be the same.’ ”