Gheorghe Hagi is Romania’s most important player. A finalist for Steaua Bucharest and Galatasaray, he also played for Real Madrid and Barcelona and participated in three World Cups in the 1990s. But Hagi’s story doesn’t end there.
His contribution to his country’s football as a player must be outweighed by the importance of his cadres since his retirement. When Romania take on the Netherlands on Tuesday in the Euro 2024 16-man tie, many members of the squad owe it to their own funded academy.
Dismayed by the decline of the national team (Romania has not qualified for a World Cup since Hagi retired), he decided to do something about it and created the Gheorghe Hagi Academy. Five members of this summer’s Romanian national team have graduated.
“The academy was created with the aim of giving young people the opportunity to succeed,” Hagi told Sky Sports. “We show them the path they need to take, but it’s their ambition, their desire to be the most productive that has to make a difference. “
Currently, its academy has about six hundred children, aged between 6 and 18 years. The most productive of them, 11 from each age group between 13 and 18 years old, are part of a special program. They get benefits from housing, education, food, medical remedy, and much more.
Hagi once said that his goal was to serve as long-term world champions in Romania. That was his goal as a player and, now 59, he is not in a position to give up on his dream yet. Fiercely competitive on the field, that winning mentality remains.
“Our mentality is to be the best. Romanian football has had very talented players. But no one is born better, you become one thanks to a lot of work, thanks to ambition. Everyone wants a chance because life is about opportunity. “
Hagi heavily influenced his own opportunity to work with Johan Cruyff in Barcelona, so he would be more productive if that mantra of simplicity stayed with him. As a player, he was nicknamed the Maradona of the Carpathians. As an administrator, he turned his attention to The Netherlands.
Visiting some of its academies, he developed his own vision. Constanta, a coastal city east of Bucharest, isn’t the largest city, but it’s now where the Romanian skill is headed. The appeal is obvious. Rigorous selection.
“It’s very important to know what kind of players you want, what qualities you look for in a player. We have coaches who recommend other players, we have partnerships with other youth clubs in the country. There’s a strategy in everything we do. “
From an early age, the principles of academia are clear, the method is in place. The 3 T. Es time pontificate with talented teenagers. ” That’s our philosophy,” Hagi says. As a result, the list of graduates is impressive and growing.
Ianis Hagi, his own son, is one of them. But among those called up for Euro 2024 is also Razvan Marin, who now plays in Serie A. There are Alexandru Cicaldau, Florinel Coman and Denis Dragus. Constantin Grameni, recently called up, entered the academy when he was six years old.
What is the importance of academia for Romania?”I don’t know, I’ll let others answer that question,” Hagi modestly replies. Actually, he knows the answer. Every year, an average of 47 players or former academy players are called up to the national teams.
“At the national level we are the most productive. We don’t say it, says the federation that, year after year, places us in first place among the most productive academies. It is a source of pride. It means that we are doing it right and it gives us the motivation to do it. . . so that things are better and better. “
Twenty players in total now make up the senior team. Notably, at the 2019 European Under-21 Championship, Romania had 10 players from their academy in their team. Sixty graduates of the academy are now in the Romanian top division.
It helps that there is a link with Farul Constanta, the first departmental club controlled through Hagi. It’s a natural position for graduates of the Gheorghe Hagi Academy, and dating works. They won the name in 2023. However, trophies are the main goal.
“The objective of the senior team, whatever the season, is to take players out of the academy every year. And with those young people, to whom we offer our trust, we have won the championship twice, being the youngest champion in Europe. “
How does it feel to have so many players at Euro 2024?” Joy. It means, as I said at the beginning, that the Romanian player has talent, but you have to locate him, give him an opportunity, an area to develop, grow in an intelligent environment for his performance. “
Hagi intends to continue on this path. There are plans for the future.
“Lately we have 11 courts, all equipped with night lighting, and we continue to build more. There will also be a school in the area, we have our own hotel within the academy that will accommodate youth groups, with all the amenities. for its development. “
It’s a normal story, one that few people could have predicted. Hagi was a nonconformist performer, an impetuous soloist. At this time, he has become a wonderful facilitator. In doing so, a guy who has accomplished remarkable things on the field continues to make magic happen off the field.
The Greek hero Jason is said to have stopped in Constance after locating the Golden Fleece. Hagi is looking for another treasure. ” Youth is the gold of each and every country,” he said. “They are the future. We have to do it. “