Spain U17's moved within touching distance of qualification from their UEFA European Championship's group with a 2-1 win over Bulgaria U17's, who can no longer progress from Group A.
Goals from set pieces by Kuki and Fran Villalba for Spain were sandwiched by a Yordanov strike, which wasn't enough to gain a point for the tournament hosts.
Spain were more positive throughout the game with a huge total of 25 shots, but didn't make the better start as Bulgaria created an early chance. Georgie Rusev was in on goal after collecting the ball from a team mate, but Alejandro Santome made a good save to prevent the hosts taking the lead. This came just moments after the ball had struck Santome's crossbar, with a poor cross from Mario Stamatov somehow hitting the woodwork.
Despite facing this early pressure, Spain took the lead on 11 minutes through Kuki. Moving the ball quickly from a free kick, Fran Villalba layed off Carles Alena, who scored in Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Austria, allowing the Barcelona youth player to slip the ball to Kuki. Taking the ball in his side, Kuki finished accurately from 12 yards.
The goal seemed to lift Spain's spirits and Kuki went close again soon after opening the scoring, forcing Bulgarian 'keeper Daniel Naumov into a good save with a right footed strike. At the other end, Santome was once again sprung into action as he expertly saved Asen Chandarov's volley.
However, after making that good save, it was Santome's error which allowed Bulgaria to equalise five minutes before half time. Failing to control a back-pass, Santome was left red faced as he allowed Yordanov to tap the ball into an empty net and level the scores.
An action packed half seemed to quieten down after it became 1-1, and that's how it stayed until half time.
You'd have been forgiven for thinking that Spain had been the team to just equalise, rather than concede as they came out for the second 45 all guns blazing. Villaba was the first to shoot, coming close with a good effort before Alex Martin saw his header fly just wide of the post.
Olmo then had a shot blocked by Naumov, just before Villabla scored what would turn out to be the winner. Captain Alena picked up his second assist of the game, teeing up Villabla from a free kick before the Valencia product slammed home.
After re-taking the lead, Spain didn't fall back into the trap of losing concentration and kept the ball well with precision and calmness. They could have extended their lead had Carles Perez and Martin's efforts not struck the post, but eventually held on to win despite a late goalmouth scramble which Rusev almost profited from.
The loss leaves Bulgaria on zero points at the bottom of group A, and coach Alexsander Dimitrov had this to say following the defeat: "Unfortunately, we are out. We gave our best. We had a good first half and we had our chances, then Spain dominated possession in the second half, and it became very difficult.
"They were better than us. We have to play for pride in the last game against Austria. We played much better than we did in the first game against Croatia, and I believe these players will continue to get better."
Spain boss Santi Denia was clearly proud of his team after the win, commenting: "This game helped the lads to realise that at a competition like this, you have to work very hard for every victory. This is the very highest level, but by working hard and sticking together as a team you can achieve your objectives.
"The atmosphere today was great – the Bulgarian fans clearly came out in force to support their team. It's fantastic too for the development of the players to be able to experience an atmosphere like this - playing in front of over 9,000 spectators is something they'll remember all their lives."
Spain will now go on to play Croatia on Tuesday, a game they will have to win to top group A, whilst Bulgaria face Austria in a game purely for pride as they look to leave the competition with at least one point.