Eurocopa Bulgaria 0 - 1 Gales

Gareth Bale scored the only goal as Wales continued their recent renaissance by defeating Bulgaria 1-0 in an almost deserted Vasil Levski stadium.

Wales's victory, their third in the past four qualifiers, left Bulgaria at the bottom of Group G with five points from eight games while Wales were one place higher on nine.

Forty days ago Wales had taken zero points from their first four Group G games but since defeating Montenegro in Cardiff and running England close at Wembley, they have not looked back.

The lively Bale, who also hit the bar after the break, was on target in the dying seconds of the first half when his low shot from the edge of the box deflected off Ivan Ivanov and wrongfooted the goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov.

The home side came closest to scoring five minutes from time when the substitute Valeri Bojinov missed a sitter from close range.

"The truth is we can't score goals," the captain, Stilian Petrov, said. "We create chances but we can't score. Look at the stands, you see no one there. That explains everything," he added referring to an attendance of barely 1,000.

Bulgaria, who last won on home soil in October 2009, failed to score a single goal at home in the qualifying campaign.

After the game, the midfielder Blagoy Georgiev, capped 46 times by Bulgaria, announced his international retirement.