Former captain and national football team coach Gheorghe Hagi said on Wednesday evening at the launch event of his autobiography titled 'My Path' at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies that the book describes his journey in life and shows how to build success.
"I think these words that have been said about me are a bit much. Because I tried to be the best, I don't know if I succeeded. The book is called 'My Path, a path that began in Sacele with a child who loved the ball. I loved it, I trained, I worked... and I was lucky to have the best teachers who trained me and made me better. Not to mention all the teammates I had, because they all helped me to be better. Because I practiced team sports, not individual sports. So there were many people in my corner who helped me. Because the team wins trophies, the player just makes a difference once in a while. It is my path from a little boy to growing up and growing old. I left Constanta and came back to Constanta where now I have built an academy. It was my duty, because football made me known in the world. What's in this book is good. Here you can read how to build success. That's what the book shows, how to build a big success. Football was my first love," Hagi said.
He explained that he generally made good decisions in his career that helped him and that he retired when he could no longer train.
"I chose the name of the book because it's a journey, we all have our lives. It's a journey where you have many opportunities and you make decisions. You don't always make good decisions, the important thing is that in the end there are more good decisions. And I think I've made more good decisions than bad. If I didn't make good decisions in some moments I wouldn't be where I am and I couldn't achieve those performances and reach the top 100 in the world of all time. But I learned from criticism, from defeats, they all made me stronger. My quality was that I was ambitious and I wanted to be better than others. I always liked the ball and I always liked to win. That made me play until I was 36 and a half, and I don't know how many people played at that age. And I'll tell you why I retired, I retired because I couldn't train anymore. The hardest thing in football and other jobs is to train. It's a pleasure during a match, but at the match you play how you train. There's no way you don't love training and then be on the field at the match. There's no such thing. It's something I wrote in the book, the hardest thing in football is training... it's repetition, repetition, repetition," Hagi said.
"The first thing I loved was the ball. After that, when I grew up, came family, wife, kids. I thank God that he gave me a wife who understands me and two good and serious children. I'm proud and fulfilled, I can go to bed in peace because I've done my best. The most beautiful thing I experienced was when I was three years old when I told my parents to get me a ball. There couldn't be a better moment. And when I first saw the ball, I fell in love with it. And I tried to control it so it wouldn't bite. I was no. 10, but when I was younger I was more selfish. That's why I was Romania's top scorer twice. But after 23-24 years I tried to pass more, that's why no. 9 who played in the team with me scored a lot of goals," Hagi added.
Questioned by Aurel Ticleanu, present at the launch, Gheorghe Hagi admitted that he would have liked to play for Universitatea Craiova.
The former national team coach has not forgotten two of the national team coaches who appointed him captain.
"What would I say to Gica Hagi when he was 17? Mircea Lucescu has to answer this question, I don't know what he saw in me. He took me to the national team when I was 17. He came to see me at a game Steaua - Farul, in the second half I did what I wanted on the field and I also scored a goal from 30 meters directly into the corner. And then again Nea [Uncle, editor's note] Mircea should say what he saw in me to make me captain of the national team at 20. I was made captain of the national team by two Dinamo players. The first was Nea Mircea, and the second Cornel Dinu. Two Dinamo players gave me the armband at the national team. What did they see in me?," said Hagi laughingly.
The launch of the autobiographical book "Hagi - My Path", held in the Aula Magna Hall of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, was attended by former colleagues, opponents and coaches of Gheorghe Hagi such as Mircea Lucescu, Gheorghe Popescu, Florin Raducioiu, Marius Lacatus, Stefan Iovan, Adrian Bumbescu, Ilie Dumitrescu, Bogdan Stelea, Ionel Ganea, Dorin Mateut, Jean Vlădoiu, Emil Sandoi or Iosif Rotariu.
The coach of the Romanian national team, Mircea Lucescu, acknowledged, at the event, that his entire career has been influenced by Gheorghe Hagi, just as the career of the former coach of the first national team was influenced by his presence.
"My career was influenced by Gica Hagi. And his career was influenced by my presence. He started with me when he was 17, and when he was 24-25 we met again... he dropped everything and came with me. It was a difficult time for him and for me. He left everything, left Real Madrid and came to Brescia with me, where he had two extraordinary years. Hagi was remembered by everyone at Brescia. Baggio and Guardiola were there, but everyone talks about Hagi, because that was the most beautiful football ever played. It was Brescia Romena, and Hagi was number 1. Then he came to me and said Barcelona was calling him and to let him go. I said no problem, even though I had built the whole team around him. Then we met once more at Galatasaray, where 70-80 percent of the five titles in Turkey are owed to him," said Mircea Lucescu.
Mircea Lucescu mentioned that Hagi was an example for everyone and that he never disappointed anyone in his career.
"Gica started with a great temperament and talent. On these two things he built his career. Through that temperament he became a strong character. I incorporated in him the desires of all the people around him who put their hopes in him. And he never let anyone down. He became, in time, a player of great personality and later a leader. He was not only what he says he was, he was also really headstrong, but also a big-hearted man. He was an example to absolutely everyone. He has an incredible career behind him that we should all applaud. And those who, from time to time, try to question something, should be ashamed, because Gica Hagi is the best," Lucescu further said.
Former footballer Ilie Dumitrescu also said on Wednesday evening, that if he and the other members of the "Golden Generation" would have helped Gheorghe Hagi a little more at the 1994 World Cup, he could have been named the best player of that edition.
"I recommend this book to all football lovers. It is fascinating what I saw in this book, it is the journey of the most important player in the history of Romanian football. We helped Gica very little. If we had helped Hagi in '94, he could have won the title of the best player at the World Cup," Ilie Dumitrescu said.
"It is very hard for a phenomenon, a genius like Gica Hagi to be born again. Players like Gica Popescu, Ilie Dumitrescu or Sabau will come along... but like Gica Hagi, very difficult. All of us who were his colleagues are proud and honored that we had the opportunity to play alongside genius like Gica Hagi. He is by far the best player in Romanian football. I don't want to do an injustice to Dobrin or Balaci, but for me Hagi is the best," added Ilie Dumitrescu.
Former footballer Marius Lacatus also present on Wednesday evening at the launch of Gheorghe Hagi's autobiography book, declared that the latter's path in football is one to follow and voiced his hope that in the future another Romanian player will be able to achieve the same performances.
"Not many Romanian football players manage to play for Real Madrid and Barcelona, two of the biggest teams in Europe and in the world. What Gica has achieved is extraordinary. Nor should we forget the performances he has achieved with the national team. And yes, Gica Hagi's path is a path to follow. I would like, as I am sure he also wishes, for someone else to come along, someone who will follow the same path and obtain the results he has obtained," said former deep lying striker Marius Lacatus.
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