Article by Eduard Apostol, Justin Gafiuc – Published on Thursday, 09 April 2026, 12:50 / Updated on Thursday, 09 April 2026 12:50
Faruk Surenthe legendary president of Galatasaray, told GSP.ro that Gică Hagi and Gică Popescu recommended Mircea Lucescu the Turks. Burak Elmas reported that Anghel Iordănescu had also been recommended to the “Ottomans”. Gica Popescu recalled why Cim Bom chose Il Luce over “The General”
Mircea Lucescu (1945-2026) is respected and loved in Turkey. Maybe even more than in Romania! It is also proved by the messages and the reactions not only in the last few days, after the death of the renowned technician stunned microbiologists from all over the world.
Il Luce was the coach of Galatasaray and Beşiktaş, two of the three big groups in the Crescent Country, as well as the Turkish national team. He won the title and, above all, the European Supercup with Cim Bom, in a final with the “galacticos” from Real Madrid, then the title with BJK in the centenary year of the club on the shores of the Bosphorus.
Mircea Lucescu won the title with Galatasaray and brought the European Super Cup to Istanbul
35of trophies won by Il Luce in his career, the 3rd most titled coach in the world after Sir Alex Ferguson (49) and Pep Guardiola (40)
Faruk Suren told GSP.ro how Mircea Lucescu came to Galata's attention: “Gică Hagi and Gică Popescu told us about him”
Mircea Lucescu broke into Turkish football in the early 2000s. He had to replace the “Emperor” Fatih Terim at Galata, a huge name for Cim Bom and for that country.
Faruk Suren, the legendary president of the “lions”, was born one day before Mircea Lucescu, on July 28, in the same year, 1945. Under his leadership, Cim Bom won both the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup. Plus four consecutive domestic titles.
In an extensive interview granted to Gazeta Sporturilor on the occasion of the elaboration of the documentary “Il Luce, the Master”, in the summer of 2025, the businessman with the allure of an English lord told how Il Luce ended up in the court of the “lions”. Among other things, Suren influenced the arrival of great Romanians in the Cim Bom jersey: from Hagi to Lucescu, from Gică Popescu to Adi Ilie.
“It was the summer of 2000, we had just completed an extraordinary performance, winning the UEFA Cup, and Fatih Terim left for Fiorentina. We didn't have a technical director (no coach, actually). And I got a message.
I think from Hagi or from Popescu, or maybe from both, I don't know exactly, in which we were told that Mircea Lucescu could be our future coach.
Ali Durust and Burak Elmas (including high-ranking officials of the club) came to Bucharest, they discovered in Mr. Lucescu a humble man, down to earth. He said: “I can accept Galatasaray's offer, it's a good team”. We won the European Supercup, a fantastic result,” recalled Faruk Suren.
We were impressed that Mr. Lucescu had a humble reaction and was down to earth, right from the start. He only made a few tweaks for Galatasaray to continue to be a successful team. I liked his down-to-earth way
Faruk Suren
Gică Popescu on the fate of Mircea Lucescu: “Anghel Iordănescu never answered the phone”. Why Galata preferred Il Luce
Faruk Suren's son-in-law, Burak Elmas, who was also president of Cim Bom, told, also for GSP.ro, that Mircea Lucescu had counter-candidates for the position of coach of the famous club. Including from Romania, Anghel Iordănescu!
Including Gică Popescu, who also made history at Galata, confirmed the version. An unforeseen situation influenced Il Luce's destiny!
“The club was looking for a coach, even during the 2000 European Championship. (…) I also asked who the new coach would be, according to Terim. They mentioned some names of French and Italian coaches, but Gică replied: “Why don't we appoint a coach from the Balkans? On Mircea Lucescu, for example!”.
The next day the club bosses went to Bucharest, met at a hotel and signed the contract. This is how Mircea Lucescu arrived at Galatasaray”, the former captain of the tricolors reported for GSP.ro.
“I don't hide that Anghel Iordănescu became the first solution at some point, but he was not available on the phone. And then they turned to the Mircea Lucescu option, which, in the end, suited them more in terms of communication.
Lucescu spoke French well, a language widely used at Galatasaray by the management people, who came from the country's elite. They were immediately delighted by the discussion with Mircea Lucescu and everything was initialed the next day,” Popescu told last summer.
Lucescu was always a calm guy. No explosive reactions, always reasonable. He was the boss who did not raise his voice, without tension. I am like him. I don't get angry very easily. I try to resolve situations. I don't like fights. I am a logical, reasonable, down-to-earth person without losing my optimism and hope
Faruk Suren
