37 Facts About Gheorghe Hagi

Gheorghe Hagi is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner and manager of Liga I club Farul Constanta.

Fans of Turkish club Galatasaray, with whom Gheorghe Hagi ended his career, called him "Comandante", while he was known as "Regele" to Romanian supporters.

At international level, Gheorghe Hagi played for the Romania national team in three FIFA World Cups, in 1990,1994 and 1998; as well as in three UEFA European Championships, in 1984,1996 and 2000.

Gheorghe Hagi 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 the joint all-time leading goalscorer of the Romania national side with 35 goals.

Gheorghe Hagi is considered a hero both in his homeland and in Turkey.

Gheorghe Hagi was named Romanian Footballer of the Year a record seven times, and is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation.

Gheorghe 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, Gheorghe Hagi was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.

Gheorghe Hagi established his namesake football academy, one of the largest ones in Southeastern Europe.

Gheorghe Hagi started his career playing for the youth teams of FC Constanta under the guidance of coach Iosif Bukossy in the 1970s.

Gheorghe Hagi was selected by the Romanian Football Federation to join the squad of Luceafarul Bucuresti in 1980, where he remained for two years.

Gheorghe Hagi was originally directed to Universitatea Craiova, but chose Sportul Studentesc of Bucharest instead.

In late 1986, Gheorghe Hagi transferred to Steaua Bucuresti as the team prepared for the European Super Cup final against Dynamo Kyiv.

However, after winning the trophy, in which Gheorghe Hagi scored the only goal of the match from a free kick, Steaua did not want to release him back to Sportul Studentesc and retained him.

Gheorghe Hagi won three consecutive league and Cup doubles with Steaua between 1987 and 1989.

Gheorghe Hagi was sold to Italian side Brescia for 8 billion lira in 1992.

Gheorghe Hagi had been the subject of a competing transfer offer from Sao Paulo FC.

Gheorghe Hagi was an important member of the Galatasaray team that went on to win four consecutive league titles between 1996 and 2000.

In 2000, at age 35, Gheorghe Hagi had one of the best seasons of his career, winning every possible major title with Galatasaray that season.

When he retired in 2001, Gheorghe Hagi was one of the most popular players in both Turkey and Romania.

Gheorghe Hagi drew praise from the Galatasaray supporters for his performances during his time with the club, who adopted the chant "I Love You Gheorghe Hagi" in his honour.

Gheorghe Hagi scored his first international goal against Northern Ireland in 1984.

Gheorghe Hagi was named in the Team of the Tournament for his performances.

Four years later, he captained Romania at the 1998 World Cup; Gheorghe Hagi initially communicated that France '98 would be his final tournament.

Gheorghe Hagi retired from professional football in 2001, at the age of 36; that year, he was given a send-off in a testimonial game on 24 April, called "Gala Gheorghe Hagi," featuring a team of Romanian All-Stars against a team of international All-Stars.

In 2001, Gheorghe Hagi was named the manager of the Romania national team, replacing Ladislau Boloni, who left the squad to coach Sporting Clube de Portugal.

In 2003, Gheorghe Hagi took over as coach of Turkish Super Lig side Bursaspor, but left the club after a disappointing start to the season.

Constanta's main stadium used to bear his name, but the name was changed after Gheorghe Hagi signed with Politehnica Timisoara.

From June to September 2007, Gheorghe Hagi coached FC Steaua Bucuresti, had a mediocre start in the internal championship mainly due to the large number of unavailable injured players, and managed to qualify the team for the second time in line to the UEFA Champions League group stages, passing two qualifying rounds.

Gheorghe Hagi resigned due to a long series of conflicts with club owner Gigi Becali, which happens to be his godson.

In September 2014, Gheorghe Hagi appointed himself manager of Viitorul Constanta, in addition to being the owner and chairman of the club.

Gheorghe Hagi was born to Chirata Hagi, his mother, and Iancu Hagi, his father.

Gheorghe Hagi's grandfather was one of 40,000 ethnic Aromanians who fled Greece to Romania.

Gheorghe Hagi set up home in the village of Sacele, near Constanta on the Black Sea coast.

Gheorghe Hagi is currently married to Marilena Gheorghe Hagi, with whom he had two children, Ianis and Kira.

Gheorghe Hagi's son, Ianis Hagi, who is a footballer, was born in 1998 in Istanbul, Turkey, when he was playing for Galatasaray SK.

Gheorghe Hagi's daughter, Kira Hagi, who was born in 1996, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, when he was playing for Barcelona, is an actress.