Gheorghe Hagi, the first option if Mircea Lucescu cannot continue! The details of the decision

Although officially no one comments on the subject, behind the scenes of the FRF there is more and more discussion about the possibility that the selector cannot be 100% involved in this extremely intense period for the first representative team.

Romania plays on March 26 away with Turkey, in Istanbul, and in case of a victory, on March 31 follows the final of the pool, with Slovakia or Kosovo, also away, two hot matches, which can decide the course of the tricolors and qualification for the World Cup.

FRF has doubts regarding Lucescu's ability to carry out the dam

Even in a favorable medical scenario, there are concerns in the Federation about the energy and lucidity needed to prepare for such a moment. The stakes are huge, the time short and the pressure maximum.

Sources close to the selector claim that Mircea Lucescu would have confessed to some people close to him that he would consider retiring, due to the medical situation, but that the problem is different, no one is really willing to take the national team now.

Hagi, the version wanted by Burleanu

In parallel, the president of the FRF, Răzvan Burleanu, is already groping the ground for a possible change. First option: Gica Hagi. According to Gazeta's sources, the “King” confessed to those close to him that he wants to join the national team, but the moment is extremely sensitive. The tie with Turkey, away, is a return, in the case of Hagi, almost impossible.

In addition, Hagi still carries the bitter memory of his first term at the national team, when Romania missed the tie with Slovenia, for the World Cup (1-2 in the round and 1-1, in Bucharest), an episode that left traces.

To convince him, Burleanu would have sent a clear message to Hagi: regardless of the result of the play-off, he will remain a selector to build the team in the long term. Basically, the FRF wants to break the link between the March verdict and the future of the technical bank.

Being in Germany these days, Hagi asked for time to think, but, according to GSP information, he is more determined than ever to accept the challenge and become the new selector of the Romanian national team. Instead, the “King” wants guarantees that the FRF negotiates only with him, that it is not circulated only as an image variant.

Anghel Iordănescu, Emeric Jenei, Mircea Lucescu and Gheorghe Hagi, four named Romanian selectors

The decision must be made quickly

However, time is not an ally. Staff, tactical plans, calls and analysis of opponents must be set in motion immediately. FRF is in a race against time, caught between respect for Mircea Lucescu and the need to ensure stability before the most important matches of the year. Romania is once again facing a crossroads. And the name of Gică Hagi returns, inevitably, to the center of the story.

Throughout his career, Gica Hagi he also prepared the Romanian national team in 2001, for 5 matches, then moved to club teams, where he coached Bursaspor, Galatasaray, Poli Timișoara and Steaua. He later devoted himself entirely to the soul project at Ovidiu, where he made the Academy that bears his name, training the Future, which later became the Lighthouse, until the summer of 2025, when he decided to step back and retire.

With the sailors, they also won two championship trophies, in the 2016-2017 and 2022-2023 seasons, to which is added a Romanian Cup (2019) and a Supercup (2020). Abroad, he managed to win a Turkish Cup as a coach, in 2005, with Galatasaray.