Gheorge hagi biography

In his heyday, Gheorghe Hagi was considered one of the greatest attacking midfielders in the world. He was known for his vision, technique, passing, and finishing, which saw him earn the nickname “The Maradona of the Carpathians.” He scored 35 goals in 124 appearances for Romania, becoming the country’s joint leading goalscorer. In 2004, Pelé named Hagi as one of the 125 greatest living footballers in the world.

Biography

Life under Ceaușescu

Hagi began his senior playing career in Farul Constanţa, eventually moving to Sportul Studenţesc in 1983. During the following four years, he made a name for himself by scoring 58 goals in 108 caps for Sportul, drawing the attention of Romanian dictator Ceauşescu. In 1987, Ceauşescu’s government oversaw Hagi’s transfer to Romanian powerhouse Steaua Bucureşti, and it was widely speculated that Sportul got nothing in return.

Hagi spent three great seasons with Steaua, scoring close to a goal a game and leading them to the European Cup semi-final in 1988 and the final in 1989. His eye-catching performances saw him linked to various European clubs, but the government was quick to reject any offers. This uneasy stalemate lasted until December 1989, when Ceauşescu was overthrown in the Romanian Revolution. Finally, Hagi was free to leave the country for good.

Broken dreams

Following a solid showing at the 1990 World Cup, Hagi signed with Real Madrid. However, the many years of being a big fish in a small pond left Hagi suffering from an inferiority complex. Many years later, Hagi admitted that playing with other superstars such as Hugo Sánchez and Emilio But

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, and is regarded by many as the greatest Romanian footballer of all time. 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. Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", he was a creative advanced playmaker renowned for his dribbling, technique, vision, passing and shooting.

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 Galatasara

Gheorghe Hagi is Romania’s greatest player. A legend at both Steaua Bucharest and Galatasaray, he also played for Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as lighting up three World Cups in the 1990s. But the Hagi story did not end there.

Improbably, his contribution to football in his country as a player might just be outstripped by the significance of his work since retirement. With Romania facing the Netherlands in the last 16 at Euro 2024 on Tuesday, many of the squad owe it to his self-funded academy.

Dismayed by the decline of the national team - Romania have not qualified for a World Cup since Hagi retired - he decided to do something about it and started the Gheorghe Hagi Academy. Five of Romania's squad this summer are graduates.

"The academy was created with the goal of giving young people a chance to succeed," Hagi tells Sky Sports. "We show them the path that they need to follow, but it is their ambition, their desire to be the best that must make the difference."

There are currently around 600 children within his academy, aged between six and 18 years old. The best of these, 11 in each age group from 13 to 18, are part of a special programme. They are given accommodation, schooling, nutrition, medical treatment and more.

Hagi once declared that his aim was to develop future world champions in Romania. That was his goal as a player and, now 59, he is not quite ready to give up the dream just yet. Fiercely competitive on the field, that mentality of a winner remains.

"Our mentality is to be the best. Romanian football has always had very talented players. But no one is born the best, they become the best through a lot of work, through ambition. Everyone needs a chance because life is about opportunities."

Hagi was heavily influenced by his own opportunity to work with Johan Cruyff at Barcelona, that mantra of simplicity is best stay

Romanian footballer and manager

Gheorghe Hagi (Romanian pronunciation:[ˈɡe̯orɡeˈhadʒʲ]; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional footballmanager 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, and is regarded by many as the greatest Romanian footballer of all time. 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. Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", he was a creative advanced playmaker renowned for his dribbling, technique, vision, passing and shooting.

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 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