Gheorghe Hagi

Gheorghe Hagi
Hagi in 2014
Personal information
Full name Gheorghe Hagi[1]
Date of birth (1965-02-05) 5 February 1965 (age 59)[1]
Place of birth Săcele, Romania
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Farul Constanța (manager)
Youth career
1975–1980 FC Constanța
1980–1981 Luceafărul București
1981–1982 FC Constanța
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1983 FC Constanța 18 (7)
1983–1987 Sportul Studențesc 108 (58)
1987–1990 Steaua București 97 (76)
1990–1992 Real Madrid 64 (16)
1992–1994 Brescia 61 (14)
1994–1996 Barcelona 36 (7)
1996–2001 Galatasaray 132 (59)
Total 516 (237)
International career
1983–2000 Romania 124[a] (35)
Managerial career
2001 Romania
2003 Bursaspor
2004–2005 Galatasaray
2005–2006 Politehnica Timișoara
2007 Steaua București
2010–2011 Galatasaray
2014–2020 Viitorul Constanța
2021– Farul Constanța
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gheorghe Hagi (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe ˈhadʒʲ] ⓘ; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner and manager of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of the best players in the world during the 1980s and '90s,[3] and is regarded by many as the greatest Romanian footballer of all time.[4][5] Fans of Turkish club Galatasaray, with whom Hagi ended his career, called him Comandante ("[The] Commander"), while he was known as Regele ("The King") to Romanian supporters.[6] Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", he was a creative advanced playmaker renowned for his dribbling, technique, vision, passing and shooting.[6][7][8]

After starting his playing career in Romania, with FC Constanța, and subsequently featuring for Sportul Studențesc and Steaua București, he later also had spells in Spain with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Italy with Brescia, and Turkey, with Galatasaray. Hagi is one of the few footballers to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona. Throughout his club career, he won numerous titles while playing in four different countries: he won three Romanian League titles, two Cupa României titles, and the European Super Cup with Steaua București – also reaching the final of the 1988–89 European Cup –, a Supercopa de España title with Real Madrid, the Anglo-Italian Cup with Brescia, another Supercopa de España title with Barcelona, and four Süper Lig titles, two Turkish Cups, two Turkish Super Cups, the UEFA Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup with Galatasaray.

At international level, Hagi played for the Romania national team in three FIFA World Cups, in 1990, 1994 (where he was named in the World Cup All-Star Team after helping his nation to the quarter-finals of the tournament) and 1998; as well as in three UEFA European Championships, in 1984, 1996 and 2000. He won a total of 124 caps for Romania between 1983 and 2000,[a] making him the second-most capped Romanian player of all time, behind only Dorinel Munteanu; he is also the joint all-time leading goalscorer of the Romania national side (alongside Adrian Mutu) with 35 goals.

Hagi is considered a hero both in his homeland and in Turkey. He was named Romanian Footballer of the Year a record seven times, and is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation.[9][10] Hagi was nominated six times for the Ballon d'Or, his best performance being a 4th place in 1994.[11] In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, Hagi was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.[12] In 2004, he was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony.[13] In 1999, he was ranked at number 25 in World Soccer Magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century.[10]

Following his retirement in 2001, Hagi pursued a managerial career, coaching the Romania national team, as well as clubs in both Romania and Turkey, namely Bursaspor, Galatasaray, Politehnica Timișoara, Steaua București, Viitorul Constanța and Farul Constanța. In 2009, he founded Romanian club Viitorul Constanța, which he has coached between 2014 and 2020. Hagi also established his namesake football academy, one of the largest in Southeastern Europe.[14]

  1. ^ a b "Gheorghe Hagi". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference RSSSF-International was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Gheorghe Hagi". Planet World Cup.com.
  4. ^ "Famous Romanians: Gheorghe Hagi" Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Romania Insider. 11 August 2010.
  5. ^ "Gheorghe Hagi". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Romania and Gala's commander and king". FIFA. 17 August 2013. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  7. ^ "Gheorghe HAGI". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gheorghe Hagi: The Maradona of the Carpathians was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Hagi, pe locul 35 în topul celor mai buni fotbaliști ai secolului" (in Romanian). 7 November 2007.
  10. ^ a b "World Soccer 100 Players of the Century". England Football Online.
  11. ^ Pierrend, José Luis (1 February 2006). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1994". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Golden Players take centre stage". UEFA.com. 29 November 2003. Archived from the original on 12 March 2004. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  13. ^ "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  14. ^ "Suma fabuloasă pe care Gică Hagi a investit-o în Academie şi facilităţile incredibile din complex" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.


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