At just 17 years old, Rostislav Kostenski has been called up to Bulgaria's Under-19 national team. Head coach Atanas Ribarski included him among the 22 players heading to the "Stevan Vilotić-Čele" international tournament in Serbia. The news was confirmed by Burgas club Chernomorets 1919 and by the Bulgarian Football Union.
Kostenski is the only Chernomorets player in the Bulgarian squad. The team will play three matches in Serbia: on September 24 against hosts Serbia, on September 26 against Hungary, and the program wraps up on September 29 with a match against Romania.
The call-up came right on the heels of the young forward's standout performances in the Second League. On September 13, he opened the scoring in a 3-0 win over Spartak Pleven in Nesebar — his first goal at senior level. A week later, he scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 away win over Etar at the Ivaylo Stadium in Veliko Tarnovo. With those two goals and the hat-trick, Kostenski racked up four goals in two straight league matches, turning heads toward the Sharks' youth academy.
A national team jersey is nothing new for him. Back in February this year, Chernomorets announced that the forward had received his first call-up to a Bulgaria U17 camp after scoring 23 goals in 11 matches for the club's reserve side. A few months later, he was already playing regularly against grown men, and now he's getting a shot at an older age group — a new stage in the development of the 17-year-old.
Chernomorets 1919 welcomed the call-up as recognition of the work done by the club's youth academy. In their statement, the club wrote: "We're happy to share some important news about our talented player Rostislav Kostenski. Following his strong performances in the autumn half of the Second League season, his debut goal against Spartak Pleven, and his hat-trick against Etar in Veliko Tarnovo, Rostislav has received a call-up to the upcoming matches of the U19 national team. At just 17 years old, he will be part of Bulgaria's squad for the games of the "Stevan Vilotić-Čele" international tournament in Serbia." The club added that it views the call-up not only as recognition of the young forward's qualities from head coach Atanas Ribarski, but also as an endorsement of the work being done at the academy, where, in their words, many more talented boys from Burgas and the surrounding region are waiting for their own chance. The statement closed by wishing Kostenski success wearing the national team jersey.
Ribarski's squad features players from 18 different clubs. Of these, 15 play in Bulgaria, while seven are developing abroad — among them players from Dinamo Zagreb, Cagliari, Lecce, Reggina, Real Murcia, OFI Crete and West Ham. Up front, Kostenski lines up alongside Viktor Dobrev, Marto Boychev, Daniel Manolev, Radoslav Karamanov and Samuil Mechev.
The tournament in Serbia gives the Burgas native a chance to showcase his fine Second League form on the international stage as well.