Gheorghe Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian football manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of the Romania national team. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of the best players in the world during the 1980s and 1990s. Fans of Turkish club Galatasaray, with whom Hagi ended his career, called him ("[The] Commander"), while he was known as ("The King") to Romanian supporters. Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", he was a creative advanced playmaker renowned for his dribbling, technique, vision, passing and shooting.
After starting his playing career in Romania, with FC Constanța, and subsequently featuring for Sportul Studențesc and Steaua București, he later also had spells in Spain with Real Madrid and Barcelona, Italy with Brescia, and Turkey, with Galatasaray. Hagi is one of the few footballers to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona. Throughout his club career, he won numerous titles while playing in four different countries: he won three Romanian League titles, two Cupa României titles, and the European Super Cup with Steaua București – also reaching the final of the 1988–89 European Cup –, a Supercopa de España title with Real Madrid, the Anglo-Italian Cup with Brescia, another Supercopa de España title with Barcelona, and four Süper Lig titles, two Turkish Cups, two Turkish Super Cups, the UEFA Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup with Galatasaray.
At international level, Hagi played for the Romania national team in three FIFA World Cups, in 1990, 1994 (where he was named in the World Cup All-Star Team after helping his nation to the quarter-finals of the tournament) and 1998; as well as in three UEFA European Championships, in 1984, 1996 and 2000. He won a total of 124 caps for Romania between 1983 and 2000, making him the second-most capped Romanian player of all time, behind only Dorinel Munteanu; he is also the joint all-time leading goalscorer of the Romania national side (alongside Adrian Mutu) with 35 goals.
Hagi is considered a hero both in his homeland and in Turkey. He was named Romanian Footballer of the Year a record seven times, and is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation. Hagi was nominated six times for the Ballon d'Or, his best performance being a 4th place in 1994. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, Hagi was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. In 2004, he was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony. In 1999, he was ranked at number 25 in World Soccer Magazines list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century.
Following his retirement in 2001, Hagi pursued a managerial career, coaching the Romania national team, as well as clubs in both Romania and Turkey, namely Bursaspor, Galatasaray, Politehnica Timișoara, Steaua București, Viitorul Constanța and Farul Constanța. In 2009, he founded Romanian club Viitorul Constanța, which he has coached between 2014 and 2020. Hagi also established his namesake football academy, one of the largest in Southeastern Europe.
He is currently minority shareholder of Liga I club Farul Constanța.
Early life Hagi was born to Iancu and Chirata Hagi on 5 February 1965. Hagi's grandfather was one of 40,000 ethnic Aromanians who fled Greece to Romania. His mother was born in Mesolakkia, Greece, and her original surname was Mega. He set up home in the village of Săcele, near Constanța on the Black Sea coast. Hagi has fond memories of his grandfather who, like many Aromanians, was a shepherd. He stated: "I was proud when he, who was called Gheorghe like me, asked me to go and spend the whole day with him minding the sheep". He added: "I loved to eat cheese and tomatoes with him, and that is still my favorite food today." He also said "ambition is the main quality of the Aromanians".
Club career FC Constanța
Hagi began his career in 1978, playing for FC Constanța's youth teams under the guidance of coach Iosif Bükössy. The Romanian Football Federation selected him to join the Luceafărul București squad in 1980, where he remained for two years. In 1982, he returned to FC Constanța, making his Divizia A debut on 11 September at age 17, being a starter under coach Emanoil Hașoti in a 3–0 away loss to SC Bacău. On 6 November he scored his first goal when he defeated goalkeeper Vasile Iordache with a 35-meter shot, closing the scoring in the 2–2 draw against Steaua București. In the Sportul newspaper, the chronicle of the match was signed by Stelian Trandafirescu, under the title "A junior (Hagi) stops the Bucharest team!" in which the journalist described the goal as follows:"Hagi scored sensationally (what an effective shot!), from distance". Until the end of the season he would score six more goals, including two doubles against CS Târgoviște and Politehnica Timișoara, but the team finished in last place, being relegated to Divizia B.
Sportul Studențesc Hagi was originally directed to Universitatea Craiova, but chose Sportul Studențesc of Bucharest instead where he would form a successful offensive partnership with Marcel Coraș. The highlights of his years with Sportul were becoming the top-scorer of the league for two consecutive seasons, in the first one with 20 goals scored, then in the second with 31, including six in a 7–5 win over Olt Scornicești in the last round. In both instances he had a hard competition with Steaua's Victor Pițurcă, and those 31 goals netted in the 1985–86 season, helped the team finish runner-up in the league. During his time with The Students, Hagi started playing in European competitions, making 10 appearances with four goals scored in the UEFA Cup over the course of four seasons. Most notably he played in a historical 1–0 victory against Inter Milan in the first round of the 1984–85 season, then in the same round in the following edition he scored a hat-trick in a 4–4 draw against Neuchâtel Xamax, but on both occasions the team did not qualify further, losing on the aggregate result.
Steaua București In late 1986, Hagi transferred to Steaua București as the team prepared for the European Super Cup final against Dynamo Kyiv. The original contract was for a one-game loan only, the final. However, after winning the final, in which Hagi scored the only goal of the match from a free kick, Steaua did not want to release him back to Sportul Studențesc and retained him. By the end of his first season he helped The Military Men win The Double, with coach Anghel Iordănescu giving him 14 league appearances in which he scored 10 goals, and also appeared the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 victory in the Cupa României final over rivals Dinamo București.
In the next season, Hagi was used by Iordănescu in 31 league games in which he scored 25 goals that helped the club win another title. Steaua also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup where they lost to Benfica, and Hagi contributed with two doubles scored against MTK Budapest and Omonia Nicosia in the eight matches played, being the competition's top-scorer alongside six other players.
In the 1988–89 season, the team won another Double, Hagi managing to score 31 goals in the 30 league matches he was played by Iordănescu, and also scored the only goal in another 1–0 victory in the Cupa României final over Dinamo. Furthermore, he played nine games in the European Cup campaign, including the full 90 minutes of the final in the 4–0 loss to AC Milan, while scoring six goals throughout the tournament, specifically three against Spartak Prague, two against Spartak Moscow and one in the semi-finals against Galatasaray. In December 1988 he netted five goals against Corvinul Hunedoara in a 11–0 win which is the biggest goal difference victory for Steaua in its first division history. In addition to his goal scored in the Cupa României final, he also scored four league goals in the derby against Dinamo that helped his side earn one victory and two draws. On 6 May 1990, Hagi made his last appearance for Steaua, a Divizia A match in which he scored once in the 4–0 success over Corvinul Hunedoara, totaling 223 matches with 141 goals in the competition.
His strong performances had him linked with Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan, fellow Serie A club Juventus, and German side Bayern Munich, but Nicolae Ceaușescu's communist government rejected any offer.
Real Madrid After impressing in the 1990 World Cup, Hagi was signed on 27 June that same year by Spanish club Real Madrid who paid a sum estimated by the press in between $3.5 – 4.3 million to Steaua to acquire him. He made his La Liga debut on 1 September, being used the entire match by coach John Toshack in a 1–0 home win over Castellón which was the club's 1000th victory in the competition. On 21 September he netted his first goal by closing the scoring in a 3–1 away victory against Real Zaragoza. During Hagi's first season, Toshack was replaced by Alfredo Di Stéfano, under whose command Hagi helped win the Supercopa de España by playing the final minutes of the 1–0 first-leg victory against rivals Barcelona, though an injury kept him out of the second leg.
In the following season under the guidance of Radomir Antić, Hagi scored more often. Most notably he managed a hat-trick in a 5–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao and a double in another victory against Osasuna, one of the goals being scored with a folha seca from the center of the field. In 2013, the Marca newspaper organized a poll for the most beautiful long-distance goal in Real Madrid's history and Hagi's folha seca against Osasuna came in first place. He also helped Los Blancos reach the 1991–92 UEFA Cup semi-finals, making 10 appearances in the campaign, scoring against FC Utrecht, Neuchâtel Xamax and in the lost semi-final to Torino. With one round before the end of the season, Real was in first place, needing a victory against Tenerife to win the title, but after leading 2–0 at halftime with one goal netted by Hagi, they ended up losing 3–2 and Barcelona won the championship. The team also lost the Copa del Rey final with 2–0 in a derby against Atlético Madrid in which coach Leo Beenhakker used Hagi as a starter.
Brescia In 1992, Hagi was transferred for 8 billion lira ($2.4 million) by Mircea Lucescu's "Brescia Romena", as around that period, his fellow Romanians Florin Răducioiu, Ioan Sabău, Dorin Mateuț and Dănuț Lupu also played for the club. He made his Serie A debut on 5 September 1992 in a 0–0 draw against Napoli in which he received a red card, one month later scoring his first goal in a 4–1 home win over Foggia. At the end of his first season, the team was relegated to Serie B. After the relegation, Hagi was wanted by Napoli who needed a replacement for Diego Maradona but Brescia denied his transfer.
In his second season with Brescia, he helped them win the Anglo-Italian Cup, defeating Notts County 1–0 in the final at Wembley and also contributed to their third-place finish in Serie B and subsequent promotion back to Serie A.
Barcelona