Gheorghe Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of the best players in the world during the 1980s and '90s, and is regarded by many as the greatest Romanian footballer of all time. "Famous Romanians: Gheorghe Hagi" . Romania Insider. 11 August 2010. Fans of Turkish club Galatasaray, with whom Hagi ended his career, called him Comandante ("The Commander"), while he was known as Regele ("The King") to Romanian supporters. Nicknamed "The Diego 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 FCSB, he later also had spells in Spain with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Italy with Brescia Calcio, 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 Liga I 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 , 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.
In the next season, Hagi was used by Iordănescu in 31 league games in which he scored 25 goals which helped the club win another title, and made another continental performance as they reached the semi-finals of the European Cup where they lost in favor of Benfica, Hagi contributing with two doubles scored against MTK Budapest and AC Omonia 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, also scoring the only goal in another 1–0 victory in the Cupa României final over Dinamo and made another European performance by playing nine games in the European Cup campaign, including all the minutes from the 4–0 loss to AC Milan from the final, scoring three goals against Spartak Prague, two against Spartak Moscow and one in the semi-finals against Galatasaray.
His strong performances had him linked with Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan, fellow Serie A club Juventus FC, and German side Bayern Munich, but Nicolae Ceaușescu's communist government rejected any offer.
In the following season under the guidance of Radomir Antić, Hagi scored more often, most notably managing a hat-trick in a 5–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao and a double in another victory against CA Osasuna, one of the goals being scored from 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 with Osasuna came on the first place.
In his second season with Brescia, he helped them win the Anglo-Italian Cup, after defeating Notts County 1–0 in the final at Wembley and also they finished third in Serie B and earned promotion back to Serie A.
In the following season he was teammate with compatriot Gheorghe Popescu. Hagi scored three goals in five matches from the 1995–96 UEFA Cup campaign against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Sevilla FC and in the lost semi-final with Bayern Munich. Barcelona reached the 1996 Copa del Rey final where they lost 1–0 after extra time against Atlético Madrid in which Cruyff used Hagi all the minutes.
In June 2000, Romanian Mircea Lucescu replaced Fatih Terim at the Cim Bom Bom side, together winning the 2000 UEFA Super Cup, after a 2–1 victory against Real Madrid. They also reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League during the 2000–01 season where in the first group stage, Hagi netted a goal with a spectacular long-distance shot in a win over AS Monaco, then in the second group stage he scored his last goal in an European competition following a deep launch from Capone, then succeeding a lob over goalkeeper Dida in a 2–0 victory against AC Milan. In the quarter-finals they earned a 3–2 victory in the first leg against Real Madrid but lost with 3–0 in the second one. In 2014, UEFA placed his goal with Monaco in a top 60 all-time best goals scored in European club and national teams competitions, while in 2020, the journalists of France Football ranked it on the 19th place of most beautiful goals scored in the Champions League.
On 26 May 2001, Hagi played his last game as a professional footballer, managing to score a brace and provide an assist in Galatasaray's 4–0 win over Trabzonspor in the Turkish league. Hagi drew praise from the Galatasaray supporters for his performances during his time with the club, who adopted the chant "I Love You Hagi" in his honour.
He was selected by Lucescu to be part of the squad that went at Euro 1984 as the team needed a replacement for injured Ilie Balaci. In the first game which was a 1–1 against Spain he was sent in the 76th minute in order to replace Romulus Gabor, then in the 2–1 loss to West Germany he was a starter but replaced at half-time with Ion Zare and in the 1–0 loss against Portugal he did not play as Romania did not manage to get past the group stage. The 19-year-old Hagi's performance at the final tournament was criticized by Lucescu:"Țicleanu and Hagi failed to make a real contribution after entering. Hagi, especially, isolated himself on the wing, he was not able to make up for the great absence of Balaci".
He scored his first international goal against Northern Ireland in a 3–2 loss at the 1986 World Cup qualifiers. In the second leg with the Northern Irish he was made captain for the first time, the game ending with another loss which mathematically erased their chances to qualify at the final tournament.
Hagi captained The Tricolours at the final tournament, in the first match against Colombia he provided the assists for both of Florin Răducioiu's goals in the 3–1 win and he defeated goalkeeper Óscar Córdoba with a spectacular 35-meters lob from the side of the field in which the ball was not spinning in the air. After getting past the group stage, they eliminated Argentina with a 3–2 score in which Hagi gave an assist to one of Ilie Dumitrescu's goals, then scored himself after Dumitrescu returned the favor.
Hagi was named in the Team of the Tournament for his performances. His goal with Columbia was listed in 2010 as one of the most beautiful ten goals scored in the World Cup by the Agence France-Presse news agency, then in 2014 Diario AS placed it on the third place and L'Équipe on the 16th.
At the final tournament, coach Emerich Jenei used him as a starter in the first two group stage matches, receiving a yellow card in each of them which got him suspended for the decisive game against England but his teammates managed to win it without him and qualify to the quarter-finals. There they lost with 2–0 to eventual runners-up Italy in which Hagi received a red card in the 59th minute.
For representing his country at six final tournaments, Hagi was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class II.
Viitorul won their first league title in the 2016–17 season after a 1–0 home victory over CFR Cluj in the last round, finishing on equal points with FCSB but on a better head-to-head record and as a result, Hagi won his second Romania Coach of the Year award.
Led by Hagi, Farul won their first league title in the 2022–23 season, earning the points that mathematical made them champions with one round before the end of the season, after a 3–2 win against FCSB, coming back from 0–2.
Several books about Hagi were written by various authors:
Hagi was chosen to dub in Romanian the character Dagda in the animated movie Epic.
Real Madrid
Brescia
Barcelona
Galatasaray
Viitorul Constanța
Farul Constanta
Early life
Club career
FC Constanța
He was selected by the Romanian Football Federation to join the squad of Luceafărul București in 1980, where he remained for two years. In 1982, he returned to FC Constanța, making his Liga I 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-meters shot, closing the score in the 2–2 against FCSB. 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:"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, however the team finished on the last place, relegating to Liga II.
Sportul Studențesc
During his period spent 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 playing in a historical 1–0 victory against Inter Milan from the first round of the 1984–85 season, then in the same round from the following edition he scored a hat-trick in a 4–4 against Neuchâtel Xamax, however on both occasions the team did not manage to qualify further, losing on the aggregate result.
Steaua București
By the end of his first season he helped The Military Men win The Double, coach Anghel Iordănescu giving him 14 league appearances in which he scored 10 goals, also appearing the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 victory from the Cupa României final over rivals Dinamo București.
In addition to his goal scored in the Cupa României final, he also scored four league goals in the derby with Dinamo which 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, having a total of 222 matches with 141 goals scored in the competition, also in December 1988 he netted five goals against the same opponent in a 11–0 win which is the biggest goal difference victory for Steaua in its first division history.
Real Madrid
On 21 September he netted his first goal by closing the score in a 3–1 away victory against Real Zaragoza. During his first season, Toshack got replaced with Alfredo Di Stéfano and under his command he managed to win the Supercopa de España, playing in the final minutes of the 1–0 win from the first leg with rivals FC Barcelona, being unable to play in the second because of an injury.
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 with Torino FC. With one round before the end of the season, Real was on first place, needing a victory against CD Tenerife to win the title but after leading 2–0 at half-time with one goal netted by Hagi, they ended up losing 3–2 and Barcelona won the championship. The team would eventually also lose the Copa del Rey final with 2–0 in a Madrid derby against Atlético Madrid in which coach Leo Beenhakker used Hagi as a starter.
Brescia
He made his Serie A debut on 5 September 1992 in a 0–0 draw against SSC 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.
Barcelona
His first performance was winning the Supercopa de España against Real Zaragoza where in the first leg, Hristo Stoichkov opened the score after a free kick executed by him and defended by the goalkeeper, then in the second leg Hagi played in the first 10 minutes but was replaced after suffering an injury. He made his league debut for Barça on 16 September 1994 in a goalless draw in the derby against RCD Espanyol, then in the following round he netted a double in a 4–0 win over SD Compostela.
In December 1994 he scored from the center of the field a goal in an away victory against Celta Vigo which in 2007 was nominated by the Mundo Deportivo newspaper for the most beautiful goal in Barcelona's history.
Galatasaray
He had been the subject of a competing transfer offer from São Paulo. He made his Turkish league debut on 9 August under coach Fatih Terim, scoring a brace in a 4–0 win over Vanspor.
Although in the twilight of his career, at Galatasaray, he was extremely successful and became highly popular among the Turkish supporters, due to his excellent performances for the club as in his first four seasons, domestically he won four league titles, two and two Turkish Super Cups. His highest success was when at age 35 he captained the club to win the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, scoring two goals in the campaign against Borussia Dortmund and in the semi-finals against Leeds United, defeating Arsenal on penalties in the final, following a 0–0 draw and during the match, Hagi was sent off in extra time for punching Arsenal captain Tony Adams.
Consequently, Galatasaray became the first Turkish club to win a UEFA club competition title.
International career
Early years and Euro 1984
1990 World Cup
1994 World Cup
In the quarter-finals, Romania faced Sweden, the score was 2–2 after extra time, reaching the penalty shoot-out where Hagi netted his shot but two of his teammates missed, while all the Swedes scored, thus the campaign ended.
Euro 1996
1998 World Cup
Hagi was used as captain by Iordănescu in all four games at the final tournament as in the group stage they earned victories in the first two rounds against Colombia and England, thus mathematically being qualified before the last group match with Tunisia where in order to celebrate, they all dyed their hair blonde and presented themselves like that at the game.
They were defeated with 1–0 by Croatia in the round of 16 after a goal scored from a penalty by Davor Šuker.
Euro 2000
Retirement
At the time of his retirement, his 124 caps for his country were a national record, which has since been surpassed by Dorinel Munteanu. He currently still holds the record of most goals scored for Romania, alongside Adrian Mutu, with 35.
In 2013 he was Decorated at the Romanian Royal House with the "Nihil Sine Deo" medal by Margareta of Romania, Hagi saying at the event:"It's an important moment for me, I'm happy, I'm glad because all the sacrifices I've made in life were worth it, and right now I feel even more honored and responsible and I have more ambition to keep going, to keep working and giving my best for football, for children".
On 12 March 2025, Hagi was decorated by President Ilie Bolojan with the Order of the Star of Romania in the rank of Knight, the highest distinction of the Romanian state.
Managerial career
Romania
Bursaspor
Galatasaray
Politehnica Timișoara
Steaua București
Return to Galatasaray
Viitorul Constanța
In a few years the team managed to promote to the Liga I, then in 2014 he installed himself as head coach. On 5 December 2014, he gave the senior debut to his son, Ianis Hagi. He had a good season in the 2015–16 edition, finishing on the fifth place and qualifying to the Europa League, also being named Romania Coach of the Year in 2015.
In their first European match, Viitorul were defeated 5–0 by KAA Gent at the Ghelamco Arena, being eliminated from the Europa League third qualifying round after a 0–0 in the second leg.
Hagi would go on to win two more trophies with Viitorul, first the 2018–19 Cupa României after a 2–1 victory against Astra Giurgiu in the final and shortly afterwards the 2019 Supercupa României when they defeated CFR Cluj with 1–0.
Farul Constanța
Style of play
Publications
Personal life
His daughter, Kira Hagi, is an actress. He is the brother-in-law of fellow Romanian international Gheorghe Popescu who married Hagi's wife's sister.
Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition FC Constanța 1982–83 Liga I 7 Sportul Studențesc 1983–84 Divizia A 2 1984–85 20 1985–86 34 1986–87 6 FCSB
1986–87 Divizia A 11 1987–88 29 1988–89 37 1989–90 11 Real Madrid 1990–91 La Liga 4 1991–92 16 Brescia Calcio 1992–93 Serie A 6 1993–94 Serie B 10 FC Barcelona 1994–95 La Liga 5 1995–96 6 Galatasaray 1996–97 1.Lig 17 1997–98 8 1998–99 18 1999–2000 17 2000–01 13
International
+ List of international goals scored by Gheorghe Hagi 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification Friendly 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification Friendly Friendly UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Friendly UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Friendly 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification Friendly Friendly UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying FIFA World Cup 1994 qualification FIFA World Cup 1994 qualification 5–1 FIFA World Cup 1994 qualification FIFA World Cup 1994 qualification Friendly 1994 FIFA World Cup 1994 FIFA World Cup 1994 FIFA World Cup UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 4–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification Friendly UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
Managerial statistics
Romania 1 September 2001 27 November 2001
Bursaspor 1 July 2003 15 November 2003
Galatasaray 22 March 2004 28 May 2005
Politehnica Timișoara 7 November 2005 21 May 2006
FCSB 1 July 2007 20 September 2007
Galatasaray 21 October 2010 24 March 2011
Viitorul Constanța 15 September 2014 1 August 2020
Farul Constanța 21 June 2021 2 June 2025
Honours
Player
Individual
Manager
Individual
See also
Notes
External links
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