• Gheorghe Hagi played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona

• The attacking mid-fielder was a serial winner at Galatasaray

• Hagi appeared in 124 official matches for Romania and scored 35 goals

Jayanta Oinam A first-half stoppage time penalty from Davor Suker sealed Romania’s fate in the 1998 World Cup. That Round of 16 defeat against Croatia in Bordeaux, France on June 30 was the last World Cup action involving the Romanian team, or the Tricolorii as it is known colloquially. After missing six successive World Cups, Romania will look to end the qualification drought. The next World Cup, an expanded one featuring 48 teams, will be held in 2026. And one Romanian who is determined to bring Romanian football out of this long slumber is Gheorghe Hagi, the former national team captain and coach. Now, 58, Hagi is busy shaping the future of a new generation of Romanian footballers. In fact, the legend has invested his own fortune to help fulfil that dream. That, however, is only one part of the Hagi story, the most enduring in Romanian football.

Born in Sacele, a commune in Constanta County, Hagi started his career with local outfit Farul Constanta; and by 1983, he was in the national capital, turning up for one of the oldest clubs in the country, Sportul Studentesc, at 18. After four years with Studentesc, and scoring more than 50 goals in 100 odd games, the gifted midfielder joined army-backed Steaua Bucuresti in 1987 — in a move felicitated by a special arrangement. It’s claimed that Bucuresti initially wanted to utilise Gheorghe Hagi’s playmaking talent in the one-off 1986 European Super Cup against Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kyiv, but they ended up permanently signing him after a little persuasion. Hagi, who scored the lone goal in that Monaco match, would become a Bucuresti legend, helping the club win three back-to-back domestic titles, in 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89. And after years of playing behind the Iron Curtain, Hagi finally moved abroad, joining Real Madrid in 1990, soon after the World Cup where he became a break-out star. Romania reached the Round of 16 for the first time in more than five decades but eventually lost to the Republic of Ireland on penalties to crash out of Italia ’90.

Gheorghe Hagi’s two-year spell at the Spanish capital proved an underwhelming experience for a player who was already hailed as “The Maradona of the Carpathians”. 16 goals in 64 matches, and no trophy of repute. The Romanian star then moved to Italy, joining newly promoted Serie A side Brescia in 1992, only to endure relegation the following season. Hagi, who made his international debut in 1983 as an 18-year-old, however, became a star at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Along with his future Barcelona team-mate Hristo Stoichkov, Hagi put Eastern European football on the world map as Romania and Bulgaria reached quarter-finals and semis, their best-ever showings, respectively. After the World Cup in the United States, Gheorghe Hagi returned to Spain, this time to join Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team at Barcelona. But his Catalan spell became a failed experiment, getting only fringe roles. In 1996, Hagi left Spain for Turkey to join Galatasaray. And there, he became a serial winner. Crowned Turkish Footballer of the Year three times, he also helped Galatasaray win four league titles besides multiple cups, including the UEFA Cup in 2000. Gheorghe Hagi appeared in his last World Cup in 1998, leading Tricolorii to the top of the group with two wins — against Colombia and England, and a draw with Tunisia. But they were undone by that Suker goal. Hagi, who almost guided the team to World Cup qualification immediately after his retirement, also played in multiple European Championships. At 19, he was the youngest member of the team when Romania made their Euro debut in 1984. He would return for the 1996 and 2000 editions.

In a playing career spanning more than 17 years, Hagi played more than 500 matches for clubs in Romania, Spain, Italy and Turkey. For the national team, he played 124 times, and scored 35 goals. Now, he’s in the midst of reviving Romanian football. In 2021, in his 20th year as a coach, he took charge of Farul Constanta — owner and head coach. When Romania start their World Cup qualification campaign in 2025, the chances of multiple Farul players making the national team are very high.