Getting back from Holidays is always hard. So why not start the year easy and write about one of the top footballers ever: Romanian king, Hagi. I have to say I did not see him play much as I was only 10 during the 1994 World Cup in the US. But I remember being amazed by his football skills and, of course, he made me even happier when Romania beat Argentina 3×2.

Gheorghe Hagi started his career in the 70’s, playing for the youth teams of Farul Constanţa in Romania. His big shot came in 1987, when he was transferred to Steaua Bucureşti as the team prepared their European Super Cup final against FC Dynamo Kyiv. The young player was only supposed to play that one match, but after Hagi scored the winning goal, Steaua did not want to give him back to Sportul Studenţesc! He played there until 1990.

(from Wikipedia:)
After the 1990 World Cup, he was signed by Real Madrid. The La Liga side paid $4.3 million to Steaua for him. Hagi played two seasons with Real Madrid and then was sold to Brescia Calcio.

Hagi helped Brescia Calcio win the Italian Serie B and get promoted to Serie A, but in the next season the club relegated back to Serie B and Hagi left the club to play for FC Barcelona.

After two years at FC Barcelona, Hagi signed for Galatasaray S.K.. Hagi did not win any trophies in Spain, neither with Real Madrid nor with FC Barcelona. However, at Galatasaray, he was both successful and highly popular among the Turkish supporters of the Istanbul side. Hagi and manager Fatih Terim built a team that would win four league titles, two domestic cups, the UEFA Cup after defeating Arsenal and then the European Super Cup after a final with Hagi’s former club, Real Madrid.