Football legend Haggi’s dream of bringing Romania back to the top (Daniel Mihaillisko)
A large wall of Giorge Hague decorates his football academy, reminiscent of Romania’s impressive performance at the 1994 World Cup, when he led his unconscious team for the quarter-finals.
The 60-year-old, Maradona Carpats, or King, — As is known for the Eastern European nation — he dreams of winning his country to the top of the world football.
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Romania has not reached the World Cup final since 1998, after the edition in the United States, in the United States to Bosnia and Herzegovina lost and qualified for the 2026 this month before they scored the first goal of the 2026 World Cup final.
At the academy, 200 young people from the age of six to 19 are training, with Hagi –, who has just published a biography — pushed to be selfish and chanted slogans like “Everything is possible.
– ‘The Greatest Place’ –
Since 2009, when the Romanian legend, the Romanian legend has invested more than 25 million euros ($27 million) in the construction project near his hometown on the Black Sea, about two and a half hours away from Bucharest.
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And he begins to produce results.
Dozens of young players trained at the Academy have found their clubs in the Romanian professional league, most of whom will become the team’s captain.
Nine of them, including Hague’s 26-year-old son, Ines, helped the national team worthy of Euro 2024, who gathered supporters behind the squad known as Tricolorii — referring to the Romanian flags — for the first time in previous years.
Hag, who calls the academy the “biggest follower” and highlights how last year, 60 percent of the national team’s goals and assists came from the academy trained players.
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After playing for both Real Madrid and Barcelona and making 124 appearances for Romania, Haggy retired from international football in
The midfielder Maestro, known for his magical left and his vision, has turned to coach, including Romania’s games and in Turkey, Galatasaray and Bursapor.
He is now in Contentta, as well as the coach of the Farula local team, where he started his career, which made him the top of the country in 2023.
It covers 17 hectares with 13 football stadiums, comparing its academy to one of the poorest countries in the European Union compared to training centers elsewhere in Europe.
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About one-third of the 200 players who train there live on the square.
– ‘Treatments of finding’ –
What haggy wants for players is an atmosphere that “not a complication of negligence for any other academy in the world,” he told reporters at an event to be held in February.
“Take the mistakes… You have to count the achievements instead,” Hag said.
“What you have done yesterday doesn’t matter today. It’s history. You have to be better day by day,” he said.
The voice is loud and anger can be volcanoes, but those around it have their own “gold heart” and “unusual courage.
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Until he invested in the academy, “the youth football was no longer a priority for anyone” in Romania.
Hagi — Who received his country’s highest achievement this month — refused to be interviewed.
“I don’t think he would have formed a high team so quickly,” striker Eustin Doycar told AFP that striker Doycaru had announced his contractor, one of his contractors.
The 18-year-old joined the academic seven years ago and made his debut for Hague coach Farole in the 2023 starting line-up.
Doycaro says he will never forget his first goal for the team in December last year, as well as Hag’s congratulations, he’s the best Romanian football player.
But he says what he has learned at the academy is that he is going through football.
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