Eugen Trică (49 years old) took off his hat in front of David Matei, the talented midfielder of the University of Craiova, summoned for the first time to the senior national team.
At the age of 19, David Matei had a dream season: he conquered the event with the champion Universitatea Craiova, then made his debut for the first national team, being used in both matches of Gică Hagi's first action of this mandate as a selector, 19 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Georgia, 20 minutes in 2-1 to Wales.
In the second match, held in Ghencea, where he played for Steaua, David provided the decisive pass for the winning goal and almost changed the score himself, hitting the crossbar.
He thus impressed former player Eugen Trică, currently a coach.
In Făgăraș, where he played in the charity match in memory of Ionel Ganea's sonTrică spoke highly of the young Bănia midfielder.
Eugen Trică, superlative about David Matei: “That's how Ilie Balaci was at his age!”
“I liked most of the players in this double. David Matei? Sorin Cârțu said that he has Ilie Balaci's toupee. Indeed, this is how Ilie Balaci was at his age. I foresee a very bright future for this child.
Courage. He has courage, otherwise Craiova wouldn't use it. He wasn't using it. And think he won the championship with this kid.
I like his thinking too. He was asked at one point what he wanted to do in the future. He is not thinking of playing in the Romanian championship, he wants to play in strong championships in a very short time. It's healthy, positive thinking.
Hagi saw it and used it. You will see that he will be the surprise of the team, in a short time I see him starting in the national team“, said Trică about David Matei.
The former midfielder liked how the national team performed in these two friendlies. Trică hopes that the “tricolori” will play differently, bravely, during Hagi's mandate.
“That's what he said at the first conference after he signed, that he wants another national team, like Spain, how Spain and France play. That is, let's be a strong team.
We cannot be content, as we have done throughout our lives, to play defensively and only counter-attack. Indeed, the greatest performances of the national team were achieved in this way, with a very good organization defensively and on the counter-attack. But you had speed players, Răducioiu, Lăcătuș, but now, from what I have seen, the players are technical.
Why don't we care about the goalkeeper, how do Spain, France, Brazil play? We can. Let's try, if we want to be there too”, believes Trică.
