Gheorghe Popescu facts for kids

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Gheorghe Popescu
Personal information
Popescu in 2018
Date of birth	(1967-10-09) 9 October 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth	Calafat, Romania
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Sweeper, centre back, midfielder
Team information
Current team	Farul Constanța (chairman)
Youth career
1975–1982	Dunărea Calafat
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1982–1984	Dunărea Calafat
1985–1990	Universitatea Craiova	124	(18)
1988	→ Steaua București (loan)	13	(1)
1990–1994	PSV Eindhoven	108	(23)
1994–1995	Tottenham Hotspur	23	(3)
1995–1997	Barcelona	66	(9)
1997–2001	Galatasaray	111	(6)
2001–2002	Lecce	28	(3)
2002	Dinamo București	8	(0)
2002–2003	Hannover 96	14	(1)
Total		495	(64)
International career
1988–2003	Romania	115	(16)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gheorghe "Gică" Popescu (born on October 9, 1967) is a famous Romanian former professional football player. He was known for playing as a defender.

Gheorghe Popescu played for many top European clubs. He was even a captain for FC Barcelona in Spain. He also played for PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands and won the UEFA Cup with Galatasaray in Turkey. He also played in England for Tottenham Hotspur, in Italy for Lecce, and in Germany for Hannover 96. In Romania, he played for Universitatea Craiova, Steaua București, and Dinamo București.

Popescu was a very smart defender. He could also start attacks from deep in his own half. He was a key player for the Romania national team in the 1990s. He played in 115 international matches and scored 16 goals. He participated in the 1990 World Cup, 1994 World Cup, Euro 1996, 1998 World Cup, and Euro 2000. He is also the brother-in-law of another famous Romanian footballer, Gheorghe Hagi.

Club Career Highlights
International Career
- World Cup and Euro Appearances
- Final Years with the National Team
After Retirement
Personal Life
Career statistics
- Club
- International
Honours
See also

Club Career Highlights

Early Days at Dunărea Calafat

Gheorghe Popescu, often called Baciul (meaning "The Shepherd" because of his leadership), was born in Calafat, Romania. He started playing junior football in 1975 at his local club, Dunărea. As a child, he loved watching Universitatea Craiova play. He even told his father he would one day be as loved as their star player, Costică Ștefănescu.

Popescu began playing for Dunărea's senior team in 1982. His first coach, Valentin Ghiță, remembered Popescu's strong desire to train. Even in a very cold winter in 1983, Popescu asked his coach to train him in the snow.

Universitatea Craiova and Steaua București

In 1985, Nicolae Zamfir noticed Popescu's talent and brought him to Universitatea Craiova. He played his first top-league game on June 9, 1985. He scored his first goal almost a year later in a big 7–0 win.

In the 1987–88 season, Popescu joined Steaua București for a short time. He helped them win the league title. He also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup with Steaua. He returned to Universitatea Craiova in 1988. In the next two seasons, he scored 15 goals, showing his skill.

Time at PSV Eindhoven

In the summer of 1990, Popescu moved from Craiova to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands. He played under coach Bobby Robson for two of his four years there. He made his Dutch league debut on August 28, 1990, in a 5–0 home win.

Popescu won two league titles with PSV in his first two seasons. He also won the 1992 Dutch Supercup in 1992. He was a regular player for PSV and became good friends with Brazilian stars Romário and Ronaldo.

Playing for Tottenham Hotspur

On September 9, 1994, Popescu moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League. He played alongside another Romanian player, Ilie Dumitrescu. He played 23 league games and scored three goals. One of his goals was against Arsenal, helping his team finish seventh in the league. He also helped them reach the FA Cup semi-finals.

Captain at Barcelona

After less than a year in England, Popescu joined Barcelona in Spain in 1995. He took over from Ronald Koeman in the team. He played his first Spanish league game on September 2, 1995. In his first season, he played with his countryman Gheorghe Hagi and was coached by Johan Cruyff.

In his second season, his former coach from PSV, Bobby Robson, became Barcelona's manager. Robson made Popescu the team captain. This was a big honor, as he led famous players like Ronaldo and Luis Figo. That season, Popescu helped Barcelona win three trophies: the 1996 Supercopa de España, the 1996–97 Copa del Rey, and the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He even scored in the Cup Winners' Cup and played in the final.

Success with Galatasaray

In the summer of 1997, Popescu moved to Galatasaray in Turkey. He joined Gheorghe Hagi there, and other Romanian players were also at the club. He made his Turkish league debut on July 31, 1997.

In his first three seasons, he won three league titles and two Turkish Cups. In May 2000, he helped Galatasaray win the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup. They beat Arsenal in the final on penalties. Popescu scored the winning penalty kick! In June 2000, Galatasaray also won the 2000 UEFA Super Cup by beating Real Madrid.

Later Career

In 2001, Popescu moved to Serie A club Lecce in Italy. He played 28 games for them and scored three goals. After 12 years abroad, Popescu returned to Romania in 2002. He signed with Dinamo București and was made captain in his first game.

His last club was the German team Hannover 96. He made his German league debut on February 8, 2003. He scored one goal for Hannover. His final game was on May 17, 2003, which helped Hannover avoid relegation. After this game, he announced his retirement from football.

International Career

Popescu played 115 matches and scored 16 goals for the Romania national team. He first played for Romania on September 20, 1988, when he was 20 years old.

World Cup and Euro Appearances

He played in the 1990 World Cup and scored one goal in the qualifiers. At the tournament, Romania reached the Round of 16. Popescu played very well in a 2–0 win against the Soviet Union.

He also played in the 1994 World Cup. Romania had a great run, beating Argentina 3–2 in the Round of 16. They were then knocked out by Sweden in the quarter-finals after a penalty shootout. Popescu played every minute of all five games.

Popescu played in Euro 1996 and scored in the qualifiers. He also played in the 1998 World Cup. In the qualifiers, he was Romania's top scorer with eight goals. At the World Cup, after winning their first two group games, the team famously dyed their hair blonde to celebrate.

He also played in Euro 2000. In a key group game against England, he was captain. Romania won 3–2 and reached the quarter-finals.

Final Years with the National Team

In his last years with the national team, Popescu played in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. His final game for Romania was on March 29, 2003, against Denmark.

For representing his country in five major tournaments, Popescu received a special award. The President of Romania gave him "The Medal of Sportive Merit" in 2008.

After Retirement

In 2000, Gheorghe Popescu opened the "Gheorghe Popescu Football School" in his hometown of Craiova. This school has helped train many young players. For a while, he also worked as a sports agent.

In 2003, a book about his life called Gheorghe Popescu - viața mea (Gheorghe Popescu - my life) was released. In 2010, Popescu helped start the football club Chindia Târgoviște. In 2019, he became president of Viitorul Constanța. When that club joined with Farul Constanța, he continued as president for the new team.

Personal Life

Gheorghe Popescu is related to another famous Romanian footballer, Gheorghe Hagi. Popescu married Hagi's wife's sister, making them brothers-in-law. Popescu's son, Nicolas, is also a footballer. His nephew, Ianis Hagi, who is Gheorghe Hagi's son, also plays football. Both Nicolas and Ianis were born in Istanbul when their fathers were playing for Galatasaray.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup		Other		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Universitatea Craiova	1984–85	Divizia A	2	0			–		0	0	2	0
	1985–86		18	1			–		3	0	21	1
	1986–87		31	1			–		4	0	35	1
	1987–88		14	1			–		2	0	16	1
	1988–89		33	8			–		0	0	33	8
	1989–90		26	7			–		0	0	26	7
	Total		124	18			–		9	0	133	18
Steaua București (loan)	1987–88	Divizia A	13	1			–		3	0	16	1
PSV Eindhoven	1990–91	Eredivisie	30	5	3	1	–		2	0	32	6
	1991–92		29	7	1	0	–		3	0	32	7
	1992–93		24	6	2	0	1	0	6	0	30	6
	1993–94		23	5	3	0	–		1	1	24	6
	1994–95		2	0	0	0	–		0	0	2	0
	Total		108	23	9	1	1	0	12	1	130	25
Tottenham Hotspur	1994–95	Premier League	23	3	3	0	2	0	–		28	3
Barcelona	1995–96	La Liga	37	5	5	2	–		8	1	50	8
	1996–97	La Liga	29	4	5	0	2	0	8	1	44	5
	Total		66	9	10	2	2	0	16	2	94	13
Galatasaray	1997–98	1.Lig	32	2	8	2	–		8	0	48	4
	1998–99		29	2	5	1	–		8	0	42	3
	1999–2000		25	2	3	0	1	0	14	0	43	2
	2000–01		24	0	3	0	–		15	0	42	0
	2001–02		1	0	–		–		3	0	4	0
	Total		111	6	19	3	1	0	48	0	179	9
Lecce	2001–02	Serie A	28	3	0	0	–		–		28	3
Dinamo București	2002–03	Divizia A	8	0	0	0	–		0	0	8	0
Hannover	2002–03	Bundesliga	14	1	0	0	–		–		14	1
Career total			495	64	41	6	6	0	88	3	630	73

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Romania	1988	4	0
	1989	8	1
	1990	14	0
	1991	6	0
	1992	4	1
	1993	4	0
	1994	15	1
	1995	5	0
	1996	8	6
	1997	7	4
	1998	12	2
	1999	8	0
	2000	6	0
	2001	5	1
	2002	8	0
	2003	1	0
Total		115	16

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Popescu goal.

List of international goals scored by Gheorghe Popescu
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 May 1989	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Bulgaria	1–0	1–0	FIFA World Cup 1990 Qualifying
2	29 November 1992	Neo GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Cyprus	1–0	4–1	FIFA World Cup 1994 Qualifying
3	12 November 1994	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Slovakia	1–0	3–2	UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying
4	1 June 1996	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Moldova	2–0	3–1	Friendly
5	1 June 1996	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Moldova	3–0	3–1	Friendly
6	9 October 1996	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Iceland	3–0	4–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
7	14 December 1996	Gradski Stadium, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia	Macedonia	1–0	3–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
8				2–0
9				3–0
10	29 March 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	2–0	8–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
11				3–0
12				6–0
13				8–0
14	6 June 1998	Stadionul Ilie Oană, Ploiești, Romania	Moldova	1–0	5–1	Friendly
15	2 September 1998	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	1–0	7–0	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying
16	6 October 2001	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Georgia	1–1	1–1	World Cup 2002 Qualifying