“The King” takes over the post left vacant after the death of Mircea Lucescu, who died on April 7, at the age of 80, and spoke with emotion about the man who influenced his career.
Gheorghe Hagi, about “Il Luce”: “He gave me confidence and inspired me”
The former international great recalled the special relationship with the late Mircea Lucescu, under whose command he debuted for the national team in 1983.
“He wanted me! He is my teacher, the man who inspired me in many of the things I do now. He had courage, he was a man… I don't think anyone had greater courage than him. At 17, to take a kid to the national team, with only a few matches played in the first league.
He inspired me, gave me everything, gave me confidence. I learned a lot from him and now I have to do it myself. My luck is that I had good teachers. There's no way something good won't come out of all this. We have the obligation to make the world happy”, said Hagi.
CV Gheorghe Hagi » Second experience on the national team bench
Gheorghe Hagi returns to the “tricolor” bench after 25 years. His first experience as a coach took place in 2001, when Romania missed out on qualifying for the World Championship after losing the play-off to Slovenia. Throughout his coaching career, Hagi also trained Bursaspor, Galatasaray, Politehnica Timișoara, FCSB and Farul Constanța.
-
He played at: Farul (1982-1983), Sportul (1983-1987), Steaua (1987-1990), Real Madrid (1990-1992), Brescia (1992-1994), Barcelona (1994-1996), Galatasaray (1996-2001);
-
He trained: Romanian national team (2001), Bursaspor (2003), Galatasaray (2004-2005), Poli Timisoara (2005-2006), Steaua (2007), Galatasaray (2010-2011). From 2014 to 2025, he coached Viitorul/Farul, with whom he won two titles, a Cup and a Romanian Supercup.
-
Matches/goals in the national team: 124-35
Performance as a player:
-
Champion of Romania with the Star (1987, 1988, 1989)
-
Romanian Cup with Steaua (1987, 1989) Division A top scorer in 1985 and 1986
-
European Super Cup with Steaua (1987) and Galatasaray (2001)
-
Champion of Turkey with Galatasaray (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
-
Turkish Cup with Galatasaray (1999, 2000, 2005- as coach)
-
Turkish Super Cup with Galatasaray (1997) Spanish Super Cup (1990 with Real Madrid and 1994 with Barcelona)
-
UEFA Cup with Galatasaray (2000) participated with the national team in three world championships (1990, 1994, 1998) and three European championships (1984, 1996, 2000)
