Article by Alexandru Tomuțiu – Published Thursday, March 12, 2026 6:43 p.m. / Updated Thursday, March 12, 2026 7:38 p.m.
The former central defender Gică Popescu (58 years old) narrated an anthological episode from the period when he was coached by Mircea Lucescu (80) at Galatasaray.
Gică Popescu was Galatasaray's player between 1997 and 2001. During 2000-2001 he was coached by Mircea Lucescu. He also crossed paths with Gică Hagi at Galatasaray.
Gică Popescu, story with Gică Hagi: “He said to me: “But what are you doing, are you taking drugs?!””
Popescu told that during the period in which he was trained by the current Romanian coach, he felt the best from a physical point of view. He recounted a dialogue he had with Hagi during one of the training sessions.
“As a player profile, I was physically strong, but never in my career did I feel physically as good as when I was trained by Mircea Lucescu. And I was 33 years old then!
I remember that Gică Hagi came to a training and said to me: “But what are you doing, do you take drugs? You're incredible, you've never been like this!”. I was flying, not touching the ground. Lucescu worked sensationally. And one more thing he used to do and I think he does it just as well now.
Regardless of who we were playing with, regardless of the opponent's level, he prepared the match as if we were always playing with Fener. And we were saying: “Nea Mircea, we're playing with the last ranked!”.
Gică Popescu with the Fobalist of the Year trophy, awarded by Gazeta Sporturilor, photo: personal archive
Half an hour session. With video, with everything… And our Turkish colleagues who had not done such a thing with Fatih Terim were going crazy. Don't leave any element that isn't perfected,” said Gică Popescu, according to digisport.ro.
