Gheorghe Hagi

Gheorghe Hagi (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe ˈhad͡ʒi]; born February 5, 1965) is a Romanian former footballer, considered one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s and the greatest Romanian footballer of all time. Galatasaray fans called him 'Comandante' (The Commander) and Romanians called him 'Regele' (The King).
Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", Hagi is considered a hero in his homeland. He was named Romanian Footballer of the Year seven times, and is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation. As a creative advanced playmaker, he was renowned for his dribbling, technique, vision, passing and finishing.
Hagi played for the Romanian national team in three World Cups in 1990, 1994 (where he was named in the World Cup All-Star Team) and 1998, as well as in three European Football Championships in 1984, 1996 and 2000. He won a total of 125 caps for Romania, ranked second after Dorinel Munteanu, and is the joint leading goalscorer (alongside Adrian Mutu) with 35 goals.
In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. In 2004, he was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony. Hagi is one of the few footballers to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona.
In 2009, Hagi founded Romanian club Viitorul Constanța. He is currently both owner and chairman of the club. Hagi also established the Gheorghe Hagi football academy, one of the biggest football academies in Southeastern Europe. His son Ianis is also a footballer.

Hagi was born in Săcele, Romania, from an ethnic Macedonian family. He started his career playing for the youth teams of Farul Constanța in the 1970s, before being selected by the Romanian Football Federation to join the squad of Luceafărul București in 1980 for two years. In 1982 he returned to Constanța, but one year later, aged 18, he was prepared to make the step to a top team. He was originally directed to Universitatea Craiova, but chose Sportul Studențesc of Bucharest instead.

In late 1987 Hagi transferred to the Romanian giants Steaua București as the team prepared for their European Super Cup final against Dynamo Kyiv. The original contract was for one game only, the final. However, after winning the trophy, where Hagi scored the only goal of the game, Steaua did not want to release him back to Sportul Studențesc and retained him. During his Steaua years (1987–1990), Hagi played 97 Liga I games, scoring 76 goals. He and the team reached the European Cup semi-final in 1988 and the final in the following year. Hagi and Steaua were the champions of Romania in 1987, 1988 and 1989 and as well as winning the Cupa României in 1987, 1988 and 1989. His strong performances had him linked with Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan and FC Bayern Munich but Nicolae Ceaușescu's communist government rejected any offer.

After the 1990 World Cup, he was signed by Real Madrid. The La Liga side paid $4.3 million to Steaua București for him. Hagi played two seasons with Real Madrid and then was sold to Brescia.

Hagi started the season 1992–1993 with Brescia but in the first season the club was relegated to Serie B; in the next season Hagi helped Brescia Calcio win Serie B and get promoted to Serie A. After performing memorably during the 1994 World Cup, Hagi was signed by Barcelona.

After two years at FC Barcelona, Hagi signed for Galatasaray. At Galatasaray, he was both successful and highly popular among the Turkish supporters. Hagi was an important member of a team that would win four consecutive league titles. In 2000, at the age of 35, Hagi had the best days of his career winning every possible trophy with Galatasaray. Gala won the UEFA Cup after defeating Arsenal in the final, a match in which Hagi was sent off for punching Arsenal captain Tony Adams. This was followed by the capture of the European Super Cup with a historic win against Hagi's former club Real Madrid. Both feats were firsts, and remain unmatched in Turkish football history. The mass hysteria caused by these wins in Istanbul raised Hagi's popularity even further with the fans and made French ex-international Luis Fernández to say that "Hagi is like wine, the older it gets, the better he is". When he retired in 2001, he remained one of the most beloved players in the Turkish and Romanian championships. Hagi is highly praised by the Galatasaray supporters. The classic chant "I Love You Hagi" was adopted by Gala fans since his arrival at Galatasaray SK.

International career

Hagi made his debut for the Romania national team at the age of 18 in 1983 in a game against Norway played in Oslo. He was part of the Romanian team until 2000.

Hagi led the Romanian team to its best ever international performance at the 1994 World Cup, where the team reached the quarterfinals before Sweden ended their run after winning the penalty shoot-out. Hagi scored three times in the tournament, including a memorable goal in their 3–2 surprise defeat of South American powerhouse and previous runners-up Argentina. In the first of Romania's group stage matches, against Colombia, Hagi scored one of the most memorable goals of that tournament, curling in a 40-yard lob over Colombian goalkeeper Oscar Córdoba who was caught out of position. He was named in the Team of the Tournament.

Four years later, after the 1998 World Cup, Hagi decided to retire from the national team, only to change his mind after a few months and play at the 2000 European Football Championship, during which he was sent off in the quarter-final loss against Italy.

Hagi retired from professional football in 2001, age 36, in a game called "Gala Hagi" on 24 April. He still holds the record as Romanian national team top scorer.

Romania national team

In 2001 Hagi was named the manager of Romania, replacing Ladislau Bölöni, who left the squad to coach Sporting Clube de Portugal. However, after failing to qualify the team for the World Cup, Hagi was sacked. His only notable achievement during the six months as Romania's manager was the win in Budapest against Hungary.

Bursaspor

In 2003, Hagi took over as coach of Turkish first division side Bursaspor, but left the club after a disappointing start to the season.

Galatasaray

He then became manager of Galatasaray in 2004, leading the team to the Turkish Cup in 2005 final with 5–1 as a score against their rivals Fenerbahçe SK. However, his contract was not renewed since his team was not able to win the Turkish League title against Fenerbahçe SK at the centennial of the club.

Politehnica Timișoara

Romanian team Steaua București wanted to hire him in the summer of 2005, but Hagi's requested wage could not be met by the Romanian champions. Hagi became manager of FC Politehnica Timișoara instead, and after a string of bad results and disagreements with the management, he left the club after a few months. Constanța's main stadium used to bear his name, but the name was changed after Hagi signed with FC Politehnica Timișoara.

Steaua București

From June to September 2007, Hagi coached Steaua București, had a mediocre start in the internal championship mainly due to the large number of unavailable injured players, managed to qualify the team for the second time in line to Champions League Groups passing two qualifying rounds. He resigned due to a long series of conflicts with the team's owner Gigi Becali, which also happens to be his godson. The main reason for resigning was the owner's policy of imposing players, making the team's strategy and threats. Hagi's resignation happened just a few hours after Steaua's first Champions League game in the actual season with Slavia Prague in Prague, Czech Republic, lost with 2–1

Galatasaray

After Frank Rijkaard was sacked as coach, Hagi signed a one and a half year contract with Galatasaray on 21 October 2010. The official presentation was held on 22 October. His former team mate from Galatasaray Tugay Kerimoğlu assisted him in Istanbul. He was sacked after a series of poor results in the league on 22 March 2011.

A talented left-footed attacking midfielder, Hagi's playing style was frequently compared with Maradona's throughout his career, due to his technical ability as well as his temperamental character and leadership; as a youth, he was mainly inspired by compatriots Anghel Iordănescu and Ion Dumitru. A creative, quick, and mobile advanced playmaker, who was also tactically versatile and capable of playing in several offensive positions on either wing or through the middle, he was known for both scoring and assisting goals, and was renowned in particular for his dribbling ability, vision, and passing accuracy. He was also an accurate finisher and set-piece taker, and possessed notable upper body strength, despite his small stature, which, along with his control, aided him in protecting the ball from opponents. Despite his skill and his reputation as one of the greatest number 10s of his generation, his career was marked by inconsistency at times, and he was also considered to be a controversial player, due to his rebellious and arrogant attitude, as well as his low work-rate, which led to several disagreements with his managers.

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first

Hagi – goals for Romania
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 September 1984	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–1	2–3	FIFA World Cup 1986 Qualifying
2	30 January 1985	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	Portugal	3–2	3–2	Friendly
3	3 April 1985	Stadionul Central, Craiova, Romania	Turkey	1–0	3–0	FIFA World Cup 1986 Qualifying
4	6 June 1985	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	1–0	1–1	FIFA World Cup 1986 Qualifying
5	28 August 1985	Stadionul 1 Mai, Timișoara, Romania	Finland	1–0	2–0	FIFA World Cup 1986 Qualifying
6	23 April 1986	Stadionul 1 Mai, Timișoara, Romania	Soviet Union	1–0	2–1	Friendly
7	20 August 1986	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	2–0	2–2	Friendly
8	10 September 1986	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Austria	4–0	4–1	UEFA Euro 1988 Qualifying
9	11 March 1987	Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece	Greece	1–1	1–1	Friendly
10	25 March 1987	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Albania	3–1	5–1	UEFA Euro 1988 Qualifying
11	20 September 1988	Stadionul 1 Mai, Constanța, Romania	Albania	2–0	3–0	Friendly
12	2 November 1988	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Greece	2–0	3–0	FIFA World Cup 1990 Qualifying
13	3 August 1990	Stadion Allmend, Lucerne, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–0	1–2	Friendly
14	25 April 1990	Kiryat Eliezer Stadium, Haifa, Israel	Israel	2–0	4–1	Friendly
15	27 March 1991	Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 1992 Qualifying
16	16 October 1991	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Scotland	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 1992 Qualifying
17	6 May 1992	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Faroe Islands	2–0	7–0	FIFA World Cup 1994 Qualifying
18	20 May 1992	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Wales	1–0	5–1	FIFA World Cup 1994 Qualifying
19	20 May 1992	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Wales	5–0	5–1	FIFA World Cup 1994 Qualifying
20	29 November 1992	Neo GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Cyprus	3–1	4–1	FIFA World Cup 1994 Qualifying
21	17 November 1993	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff, Wales	Wales	1–0	2–1	FIFA World Cup 1994 Qualifying
22	14 June 1994	Trabuco Hills Stadium, Mission Viejo, United States	Sweden	1–1	1–1	Friendly
23	18 June 1994	Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States	Colombia	2–0	3–1	World Cup 1994 Group A
24	22 June 1994	Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, United States	Switzerland	1–1	1–4	World Cup 1994 Group A
25	3 July 1994	Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States	Argentina	3–1	3–2	World Cup 1994 Round of 16
26	12 November 1994	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Slovakia	2–0	3–2	UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying
27	15 October 1995	Všešportový areál, Košice, Slovakia	Slovakia	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying
28	9 October 1996	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Iceland	2–0	4–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
29	29 March 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	4–0	8–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
30	10 September 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Iceland	1–0	4–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
31	10 September 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Iceland	4–0	4–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
32	11 October 1997	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	1–0	1–1	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
33	3 June 1998	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Paraguay	3–2	3–2	Friendly
34	4 September 1999	Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	2–1	5–1	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying
35	8 September 1999	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Portugal	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying

Managerial statistics

As of 14 December 2014

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Romania		2001	2001	7000400000000000000♠4	7000100000000000000♠1	7000200000000000000♠2	7000100000000000000♠1	7001250000000000000♠25.00
Bursaspor		2003	2004	7001120000000000000♠12	7000200000000000000♠2	7000400000000000000♠4	7000600000000000000♠6	7001166700000000000♠16.67
Galatasaray		2004	2005	7001470000000000000♠47	7001320000000000000♠32	7000600000000000000♠6	7000900000000000000♠9	7001680900000000000♠68.09
Politehnica Timișoara		2005	2006	7001160000000000000♠16	7000500000000000000♠5	7000400000000000000♠4	7000700000000000000♠7	7001312500000000000♠31.25
Steaua București		2007	2007	7002260000000000000♠260	7002135000000000000♠135	7001630000000000000♠63	7001620000000000000♠62	7001519200000000000♠51.92
Galatasaray		2010	2011	7002284000000000000♠284	7002169000000000000♠169	7001640000000000000♠64	7001510000000000000♠51	7001595100000000000♠59.51
Viitorul Constanța		2014	2016	7002273000000000000♠273	7002149000000000000♠149	7001700000000000000♠70	7001540000000000000♠54	7001545800000000000♠54.58
Total				7002148000000000000♠148	7001680000000000000♠68	7001350000000000000♠35	7001450000000000000♠45	7001459500000000000♠45.95