“How are the prices in the store?” + “I describe the Spanish in 3 words”

When Goian, champion with Dinamo in 2007, chose to live in the south-east of Spain, the career of the boy, Luca Goian, 14 years old, registered at Celtic Elche, mattered most.

Guest on GSP Live on Mondaythe former Ligue 1 stopper elaborates: “We're practically in the front room of the Elche team in the first Spanish league. It's the best academy in the area, we're 25 minutes away from home, there are nearby towns, we go out on the highway and we're in training.”

The boy is the main reason we moved here. From our point of view, we made a very good choice. We congratulate ourselves on this. It's the best choice we could have made. There is progress. It is in a much better developed system, with much better infrastructure.

We are not at Real, at Barcelona, ​​at a stellar academy, but the interest in children is greater, the infrastructure is better. Football-wise, there are pluses we have here and we hope they will be seen in the future. In fact, they already see each other

– Lucian Goianat GSP Live

Lucian Goian is now settled in Spain: “I really like that people enjoy life here”

Lucian, his wife Anda Banu and junior Luca have been living in rent for more than a year, in a residential complex in Alicante. Planning to buy a home.

“Our lease expires in August and we are looking to buy something. We already decided a year ago that we want to move here. We don't see ourselves returning to the country. We don't know what will happen in the future”, says Goian.

What delights the former central defender from Ceahlăul, Dinamo, Astra, CFR Cluj about life in Spain? “Significant minuses in Alicante I don't know how to say. The climate is very good, the people are very OK, we like the most that people enjoy life, they are not interested in war, for example. We talk to Spaniards, we have friends among them. We talk about football, about the weather, about the fiesta, when there is a holiday.

In Romania, when I was a week ago, everyone was talking about the war, everyone knows, they know where the United States is wrong… Here they are not interested. Here I'm talking about Barca, Real, I'm saying: “And they gave you a penalty last night, thieves…””.

Dorin Goian's brother continues with the pluses: “The infrastructure is good, the roads are good, you can easily get from one side to the other. Port, esplanade, sea, palm trees, boats. If you give me these and the sun is in the sky, I don't need anything else. We feel very good“.

650,000 Romanianshave residence in Spain

Romania vs. Spain: “We come from Cluj, it's not more expensive here!”

When asked where life is more expensive, in Romania or in Spain, Lucian Goian did not hesitate to answer. And he also thinks that 3 words describe the Spanish.

“Considering that we come from Cluj, life is not more expensive here. It was also quite expensive in the country. There are people who come here from Romania, go to the shops and say that the products are cheaper than in Romania. It also depends on the places you go. But you feel different here, don't worry. We always laugh and say that the Spanish are characterized by 3 words: fiesta, siesta and manana. I always sit on the terrace to drink a beer, I don't drink in the house. Socialize. All terraces are full in the evening.

In the afternoon, at the pool, in the complex, we are alone. At 14:30, 15:00 it's full, then I stay with Anda and Luca. And you can hear the blinds. In 5 minutes, there is no one left! At 5:30 p.m. the blinds start to be heard again and everyone is at the pool, downstairs.

And they are not like us, to do as much as possible today. He leaves it for tomorrow. They are not stressed. When it was 4:00 p.m., no one answered your phone, they finished the program and that's right, healthy”, says Lucian Goian.

He also has a business in Spain: “I opened a metal fence company. It works, we are at the beginning, but it works. I also have a collaboration with a company from Romania, I tested the initial land, I gathered information from here, I spoke with someone else. For a while we brought them from Romania, but we had transport costs and now we produce them here. For now it's very good”.

It costs to have your child play football in Spain, says Lucian Goian. “But you can also send him to public school”

The integration of Luca Goian into the educational and footballing system in Spain was not cheap, nor simple.

“There are some costs, some expenses. Put together, it means something. We have him in an academy program, separate from the team he plays for. We also had him in a private school, Cambridge, which costs well.

Then you can't come and play football straight away. You have to have rent, to the rental contract you have to bring proof that you have somewhere to support the rent, employment contract, etc., it's quite difficult. It costs something. But in my view, it's worth it. Not every family could, but you can also send your child to a state school without paying,” says Goian.

If our parents didn't have the opportunity to send us out to a football school, we wanted to do it, to give it a chance. It's not a guarantee, we're just increasing his chances

– Lucian Goianat GSP Live

“In Romania, coaches come to training from a ride-sharing car”

Concretely, what are the differences between the academies in Romania and those in Spain? Luca Goian had played in the country for the juniors of CFR Cluj.

“There are better grounds. There is also a difference in the pace of the game, in training and in the match. I have always said that you impose the rhythm from your mouth, as a coach. When you are involved among them and you are always «Come on», «Quick», «Change», water break, a minute, then again, back to work.

You don't see coaches sitting on the sidelines watching practice. That says it all. That's how you dictate the pace of the game, keeping them engaged. When you bring the team up to City's level, yes, sit on the sidelines quietly. Until then, you work”, reports Lucian.

“Our problems are at the level of children and juniors”, Lucian Goian is convinced. “You can't fight with big countries when you have the conditions you have in Romania. Romanian coaches, from children and juniors, should be better trained, better prepared and better paid. Many come directly from a ride-sharing car to train, because they have to support their families. I know what I'm talking about. It's like a football player coming out of practice and going to work on the second shift.

In Romania, many talented children with potential give up at the critical age of 16-17 years. I come home and say: “I don't enjoy going to football anymore, from today I don't go anymore”. It comes together: one, another, the conditions, the coaches, the interventions, certain things. I know concrete cases, from former colleagues of Luca's, but I don't want to go into details”, said Lucian Goian at GSP Live.

“We're bad at infrastructure. Are we talking about psychologists, nutrition?!”

Goian points to two other essential tools in the development of juniors, ignored in Romania: psychological and nutritional education.

“During adolescence, they need psychological education. Major hormonal changes occur, all kinds of things appear in their personal lives. We were in the phenomenon and we help our child with advice, Luca also has two psychologists he works with. But not everyone comes from the phenomenon.

We're bad at infrastructure, we can't talk about psychologists, nutritionists… Although nutrition is very important, what you eat. The muscle fiber, experts say, is built by a small child. If you don't give the muscle what it needs, when it reaches 17-18 years it breaks. You can be the biggest talent, if you're broke, you're not doing anything,” added Monday's GSP Live guest.

Lucian Goian and his wife Anda Banu, image from the Gazeta archive

“He can beat me and Dorin too”

“I think Luca has the qualities to surpass both Dorin and me”Lucian Goian bets.

“Now it depends. Times have changed compared to ours. The important thing is that he works. For me, that's one of the main reasons why I want him to make it and why I believe in him. We, as parents, are not crazy about him becoming a footballer, it's his dream, he works for it. He does extra training.

He's smart, he's got vision, a quality you can't train. He has good technique, hits the ball with both feet, heads well. He doesn't have great speed, but he is growing, I see very good qualities in him. He respects in the match what he does in training, tactically he is good in the field. He needs another chance. What I want is for him not to look back and have regrets about football”, he concludes.