Article by Maria Olteanu – Published on Thursday, 21 May 2026 20:42 / Updated on Thursday, 21 May 2026 20:51
The selector of the Romanian national team, Gheorghe Hagi (61 years old), will announce on Friday, May 22, the squad for the first action on the bench of the first representative team, since the beginning of June. According to GSP.ro information, his surprise is the young David Matei (19 years old), champion of Romania with Craiova University.
The last week was a dream for the young David Matei, who won the Romanian Cup and then the Superleague title with the white-blue team in just five days. The good news will continue for the scorer of the first goal of the “final” with U Cluj, which Olten won 5-0. He will be called up to the national team for the first time, being one of the 8-9 people from Craiova in the squad.
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In Gică Hagi's first action in this mandate as a selector, Romania will face Georgia (Tbilisi, June 2) and Wales (Bucharest, June 6) in friendly matches.
David Matei will receive the summons from Gică Hagi for the friendlies in June
Hagi announced during a conference that the batch for his first action in this mandate as a selector will include 33 names, three options for each position.
The surprise he is preparing is the central midfielder David Mateifootballer who after just one season in Bănie became a key player, being one of the most promising players of the new generation.
In the summer of 2025, Craiova University paid 75,000 euros to bring David Matei from the second league, from Steaua Bucharest.
David Matei was waiting for a sign from Hagi after becoming champion
In the evening when he became champion with the University of Craiova, David Matei gave an interview directly from the lawn, extremely emotional, with his parents. Asked if a call-up to the senior national team would complete the ideal season, Matei did not shy away from admitting:
“It can be said, yes. Now I have nothing to say. If the selector saw something in me and believes in me, the summons will come. But I'm young, I have time to summon me. Maybe he'll surprise me now, in June. I don't know, we'll see”said Matei, who will now go to the national team, at the end of a perfect season for him with the club team.
“David does not know, for now, where he will go on vacation. We are first waiting for the season to end and for the calls to the national team to come, sent by Mr. Hagi. Honestly, we hope and dream that he will be called for the games in June,” David's father said at the beginning of this week. in an interview for GSP.ro.
In his first season in blue and white, David Matei impressed everyone. He managed 5 goals, two decisive assists and the event with Olteni.
Laurentiu Popescu, Nicușor Bancu, Adrian Rus, Vladimir Screciu, Tudor Băluță, Alexandru Cicâldău, Ștefan Baiaram, Luca Băsceanu are the other players from the champion Craiova who would be called up to the national team for the action in June.
