The 1994 World Cup Golden boot winner will attempt to put a feel good factor back into Bulgarian football after a poor showing at the European championships in Portugal saw them lose their three Group C games. Then coach Plamen Markov then departed, leaving way for Stoitchkov, or Stoichov, depending on which side of the Liffey you were born.
Two days ago though, Bulgarian football was plunged into darkness when BBC investigations led to the suspension of Olympic and football official Ivan Slakov over corruption allegations.
The 64-year-old had indicated to International Olympic Committee members that would willingly accept bribes in the battle to host the 2012 Games. He has temporarily stepped down as head of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and the Bulgarian Football Federation, posts he has held since 1982 and 1995 respectively.
Stoitchkov's first squad includes defender Kiril Kotev, attacking midfielder Velizar Dimitrov and striker Georgi Chilikov, all based in the homeland and who were previously dropped from the initial 22. The biggest names known to Irish eyes will be Charlton defender Radostin Kishishev and Celtic hero Stilian Petrov, who was stretchered off against Motherwell late on at the weekend. The 25-year-old's ankle injury has since cleared up however.
The senior friendly takes place at Lansdowne Road next Wednesday, kick-off 7.30pm. The two nations U21s also lock horns a day earlier in Drogheda.
Squad in full: Goalkeepers: Zdravko Zdravkov – Chaykur Rizespor (Rize, TUR), Dimitar Ivankov – Levski (Sofia)
Defenders: Radostin Kishishev – Charlton Athletic (London, ENG), Iliyan Stoyanov – Levski (Sofia), Rosen Kirilov – Litex (Lovech), Georgi Markov – Levski (Sofia), Ilin Topuzakov – Levski (Sofia)
Midfielders: Stilian Petrov – Celtic (Glasgow, SCO), Mariyan Hristov – Wolfsburg (Wolfsburg, GER), Emil Gargorov – CSKA (Sofia), Chavdar Yankov – Slavia (Sofia), Hristo Yanev – CSKA (Sofia), Martin Kamburov – Lokomotiv (Plovdiv)
Forwards: Martin Petrov – Wolfsburg (Wolfsburg, GER), Zdravko Lazarov – Gaziantepspor (Gaziantep, TUR), Vladimir Manchev – Lille (Lille, FRA), Valeri Bozhinov – Lecce (Lecce, ITA), Dimitar Berbatov – Bayer (Leverkusen, GER)