RPT-FEATURE-Soccer-Bulgarians recall World Cup defeat of Germany

(Repeats feature first moved at 0002 GMT)

By Angel Krasimirov

SOFIA, July 14 (Reuters) - Bulgarian soccer fans cast aside their cares at the weekend to bask in the memory of the day that Hristo Stoichkov and his team mates upset the odds to beat champions Germany and reach the World Cup semi-finals.

The team's run in 1994, remembered in local parlance as "the unforgettable American summer", still stands as Bulgaria's biggest international success in soccer but it is something that many doubt they will see again.

The national game has fallen into decline and officials, including Borislav Mihaylov who was the 1994 goalkeeper, want the state to step in and rescue it.

"Football is a social phenomenon and I believe that the state should take care of it," Mihaylov, now the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) president, told reporters. "We're trying hard to keep a decent level but it's not enough."

The first generation of players who were allowed to compete abroad after the 1989 fall of Communist rule united the nation and even reduced crime with their scintillating run at the 1994 World Cup.

Reaching the quarter-finals was far more than had been expected from the 50-1 underdogs and as a wave of euphoria swept through Bulgaria, police reported that the crime rate had dropped significantly.

"The most important thing was that we managed to unite the whole nation," Ivaylo Yordanov, who played in five matches during the 1994 finals, told Reuters at the anniversary match on Friday. "We did something that many politicians have failed to do so far."