Stiliyan Petrov And The Great Bulgarian Football Conspiracy Theory

The fates, and Bulgarian football greats, are conspiring to keep Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov down. I'm sure many of you saw the article in the Birmingham Mail about Petrov being in danger of losing international caps, but in case you didn't, here's a quick summary:

Petrov earned his 104 cap in Bulgaria's 3-1 loss to Switzerland on Tuesday. However, due to "suspicions" about match officials involved in Bulgaria's friendly against Estonia, Petrov may only have 103 caps. (aside: who needs suspicious behavior in a friendly? How many spots up could Bulgaria really move up in the FIFA rankings by beating Estonia?) Oh, and the president of the Bulgarian Football Union currently holds the record for most caps for his country, at 102.

Drama! Intrigue! More reasons to call Eastern Europeans crazy! What's important, it seems, is that Petrov isn't set to retire from international duty, despite the fact his caps might continue to mysteriously disappear. Of course, with Bulgaria missing out on Euro 2012 with the loss to the Swiss, Petrov might not have many chances to add to his cap collection. Which means he'll have to be trying even harder to break records at Aston Villa...