Former Romanian international footballer Gheorghe Hagi has declared that the country’s football system is not getting enough publicity and attention while calling on the Romanian Football Federation to see to it that there are more investments in football because it is the most passionate sport in the world and that the country needs to be more actively involved in it. Hagi revealed this in a recent podcast where he talked about a couple of topics, including his career as a footballer, and what other leagues around the world are doing that Romania should be emulating.

The former player said that football has continued to evolve over the years and that there are quite a lot of reasons why they should pay more attention to it now more than ever. According to him, football is no longer what it was during his playing days because there have been a lot of additions and subtraction that has now made the sport more modern than it used to be. He mentioned the introduction of the video assistant referee (VAR) as an example, citing that the technology was absent during his time and it further gives concrete proof that any country that does not move with the current trends will only be left behind.
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Gheorghe Hagi was considered one of the best footballers in the 1980s and 1990s in addition to being the greatest footballer to wear the Romanian national team jersey. The 56-year-old was a creative cum attacking midfielder renowned for his passing, technique, vision, shooting and dribbling.

Hagi started his career at Farul Constanta in the early 80s where he spent one season with the senior team with an attacking output of seven goals in 18 games in the league. He played for the senior team at Farul Constanta during the 1982/83 season before moving to fellow Romanian club SportulStudentescwhere he developed into a real force on the Romanian football scene. Gheorghe Hagi scored 58 goals in 108 appearances in the league while he was at Sportul for four years. The Romanian football icon was at SportulStudentesc between 1983 and 1987.
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Gheorghe Hagi is a football icon in Romania and the former Barcelona player is widely regarded as the greatest footballer in his country till date. Gheorghe Hagi is one of few players to play for both Barcelona and Real Madrid during the course of their football career. His international debut came against hosts Norway in Oslo in 1983 at the age of just 18.

The attacking midfielder went on to score 35 goals in 124 games for Romania. The first of those 35 Romania goals for Gheorghe Hagi came against the Northern Ireland in 1984. He would later go on to captain his country for the first time during the game against the same opposition one year later. Gheorghe Hagi and Romania failed to qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup tournament in Mexico but that was rectified at the 1990 edition in Italy. Romania were eliminated in Italy at the round of 16 stage by the Republic of Ireland on penalties after the two teams had battled to a goalless draw.
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Romanian football legend Gheorghe Hagi was one of the stars of the 1994 FIFA World Cup tournament in the United States of America. Gheorghe Hagi was instrumental as Romania reached the quarterfinals at the tournament before they were eliminated by Sweden on penalties. Sweden would go on to secure third place at the end of the tournament. Gheorghe Hagi is an icon as far as Romanian football is concerned and he scored three goals at the FIFA World Cup tournament in 1994. Only nine players scored more than Gheorghe Hagi at the tournament. Romania have not been able to replicate the quarterfinal heights reached by Gheorghe Hagi and his teammates in the United States of America.

Gheorghe Hagi and Romania were drawn in Group A alongside hosts United States, fellow European Switzerland and South American nation Colombia. At the end of proceedings in Group A, Romania emerged as the best team in the group ahead of Switzerland, the United States and bottom team Colombia. Romania began their group campaign with the 3-1 win over Colombia and Hagi was one of the goalscorers. Hagi made it two goals in two games when he scored the only Romania goal in the 4-1 defeat to Switzerland. In the final group game, Romania beat hosts United States 1-0 and that result ensured that they finished as Group A winners. (more…)

 

Gheorghe Hagi has insisted that the comparisons made by football pundits and fans around the world between him and his son are unfair and should not even be a topic that is up for debate. He admitted that he has grown fed up with the comparisons and that people should stop mentioning it any further.

Hagi, a former player who enjoyed a great career including stints at Real Madrid and Barcelona got criticized heavily for declaring that his son Lanis will become as good as Zinedine Zidane one day.
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