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Stoichkov a Saint?

LOVECH, Bulgaria -- A Bulgarian has offered a large donation to the Orthodox Church if it canonizes two of the soccer players who have thrilled the country by taking fourth place in the World Cup.


The state news agency BTA said on Wednesday that Kiril Donev promised to give $5,000 to a 19th-century monastery in central Bulgaria if it makes striker Hristo Stoichkov and defender Petar Hubchev into saints.


Donev pledged to double the sum if the abbot, Bishop Nestor, agreed to have their faces painted on the exterior walls of the church.

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