Florin Răducioiu (56 years old), the former great striker of the national team, spoke about the future of the first national team and the possibility of Gheorghe Hagi taking over the team, claiming that he can become the “savior” in a difficult moment for Romanian football.
The idea of the game created by Gică Popescu started from the desire to share untold stories from his career, transformed into an interactive experience for fans. Each card contains answers and events from Popescu's career.
Florin Răducioiu, after Romania missed the qualification for the World Cup: “The attackers disappointed”
The former AC Milan striker also spoke about the failure of the national team, pointing out that the failure to qualify was the result of a poor campaign and below-expected performances in the decisive moments, especially in attack.
“The American dream is over, unfortunately. It's been a poor campaign and the result says it all: another non-qualification. We're approaching three decades without a World Cup appearance. The reasons are many and I don't think this is the time to go into detail, but if we are strictly referring to the Turkey match, the valuable players stand out in such important clashes. Unfortunately, the four players who should have made the difference disappointed, I mean the strikers.
It is easy now to tell where the qualification was lost. It is clear that he got lost in the groups. Look at Bosnia, who qualified for the World Cup and beat us twice. It is obvious that a rebuild will follow. I understood that Hagi could take over the team, I wish him the best of luck. He is a great connoisseur of Romanian football, but he will have a lot of work. He talked about mentality and I like that he is trying to change the mentality of the players, to create a winning team.
Florin Răducioiu: “We must call Hagi the “savior”
Răducioiu sees a possible reconstruction around Gheorghe Hagi, who he says can change the mentality of the national team.
“Perhaps we even have to call him the “savior”, especially in a moment of crisis for Romanian football. It seems that there is a curse related to this World Cup for us, we have not been able to qualify for so many years. The reasons are numerous, and the examples are clear: small nations reach final tournaments, although a few years ago they did not even matter on the world football stage.
I wish Gică (No. Hagi) to be inspired. I think he will rejuvenate the national team, not necessarily because it is an old one, but it needs a new breath. New players will appear, but there is a serious problem: the level of the Romanian championship is low. I was talking to Hagi the other day and he was telling me that in Turkey's first “11” more than seven players played in the domestic championship. This should give us food for thought.
“Hagi demonstrated that he can save Romanian football”
In the end, the former striker pointed out that concrete measures and a serious reconstruction are needed, giving the example of Italy, which is going through a similar situation, despite a strong championship. In his view, Bosnia showed that determination and organization can make the difference in decisive matches.
“It's clear that something needs to change. Look at Italy, who didn't qualify, and they're asking the same questions despite the high level of their championship. Bosnia produced the surprise, I didn't see the game but a technical, motivated team that did it.
Hagi has extraordinary courage and has demonstrated that, in difficult moments, he can save Romanian football. It's true that the injury from the match with Slovenia in 2001 remains, but this could be the chance for a rematch: qualifying for the Europeans and then the World Cup.”
