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JUVENTUS WARY OF ROMANIAN GENIUS

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Juventus are extremely wary of the threat posed by Cesena in the form of Romanian footballer Adrian Mutu. The former Chelsea striker is currently with the relegation threatened club.

Even though he is widely expected to leave the club at the end of this season, the 33-year-old will be a major threat for Juventus, as they not only look towards winning the title, but also maintaining their unbeaten run in the season. Juventus are so far the only team in the Italian Serie A to remain unbeaten this season. It is an incredible achievement by the players considering that there are only a few games remaining in the season.

The team currently have a one-point advantage over AC Milan in the table. Only six games remaining the Italian Serie A season and Juventus are ahead of AC Milan by just one point following their 2-1 win over Champions League qualification chasing Lazio.

If Juventus win the title this season, then it will be the first since 2006 when they were found guilty of match fixing. Back then, Romanian footballer Adrian Mutu was on the books of the Bianconeri. However, the match fixing scandal meant that they were unable to hold on to the star striker, who went to Fiorentina. Even though his career has nosedived since then, event is still regard Mutu to be a great threat in their hopes of winning the title.

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HAGI JOINS FIFA PROGRAM

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FIFA are looking to get football into a star-studded spectacle after their recently announced that two former great players will now be joining their global representation program. FIFA President Sepp Blatter has been looking to spread the game to the remote corners of the world through the introduction of many high profile players from the past as part of the global representation program. Now, FIFA have recently announced that ex-Romanian playmaker Gheorghe Hagi and former Ghana skipper Abedi Pele will be joining the program in order to assist FIFA in their efforts to increase the popularity of the game in the remote corner of the world.

Gheorghe Hagi is widely regarded to be the greatest ever Romanian player to have graced the game. Hence, it is not surprising that his inclusion has already drawn a lot of interest. Sepp Blatter was extremely sceptical about introducing Ghana football legend Pele into the squad as well, but pressure from various quarters has now forced the FIFA President to rethink. As a result, Abedi Pele has also been included in the 22 man squad, which will now represent FIFA in major global matters. The three-time African Footballer of the Year was initially left out of the squad.

The new members of the team were together for the third meeting that was held for the task force in Zürich recently, but one of the major absentees was Abedi Pele. The celebrated African player said that he was unable to make it to the meeting due to other commitments. It has hardly added to the credibility of the panel, but FIFA expect things to improve in the next few weeks. Gheorghe Hagi is thought to have been present at the meeting held at Zürich for the team members where a number of important topics were discussed.

HAGI FEATURED ON SHIRT

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Romanian football legend Gheorghe Hagi has gone one step ahead of the other great players of his era in terms of promotion. Gheorghe Hagi included a photo of himself in a club shirt. The Romanian second division club Viitorul Constanta have unveiled their new kit for this season and it will be featuring the face of former Romanian national team player Gheorghe Hagi. He is widely regarded to be one of the best Romanian players of all time, but it is really interesting to know the story behind the inclusion of this photo in a team shirt.

Gheorghe Hagi owns the club Viitorul Constanta. According to the club sources, Gheorghe Hagi approached the manufacturers of the kit – Puma – with the request of making the club kit unique this season. After trying out various designs, Gheorghe Hagi decided to use his face on the front of the kit in order to provide it with a unique design. The pale blue T-shirt will be having the face of the Romanian football icon, but it will be interesting to see the reaction of fans. The face will be imprinted on the shirt using binary numbers only, which makes the design look cool.

One thing that can be certain of the fact that Gheorghe Hagi fans will take no time in waiting to buy the kit. For others, it may be some time before they get used to the current kit. Gheorghe Hagi has been involved in various levels of football over the years. He has been the owner of the Romanian second division club for quite a while. He has also tried his hand at management, which does not seem to have gone too well. Just at the time when managers do not prefer interference from their chairman, this is certainly a bold step from Gheorghe Hagi.

HAGI JOINS UP WITH STOICHKOV

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Hristo Stoichkov, who is best known for his time at Barcelona, has decided to call upon his former teammate and Romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi to assist him in his latest job.

Gheorghe Hagi will be taking charge as a member of the coaching staff and will be of great assistance to Hristo Stoichkov. Hristo Stoichkov has been recently appointed as the manager of Bulgarian side Litex Lovech, who are the current Champions as well. In order to deal with such a major role, he has called upon the services of his former teammate Gheorghe Hagi, who is widely regarded to be the greatest Romanian football player ever.

Gheorghe Hagi was offered the opportunity to take charge of a lower League Romanian club, but the Romanian legend has turned out the opportunity for a lucrative job of managing the Bulgarian Champions. Gheorghe Hagi was part of the Romanian team in three different World Cups – 1990, 1994 and 1998. He was also involved in three European championships – 1984, 1996 and 2000 – as well. Even though his exploits in the club level do not match those of the International ones, many expect him to do a great job alongside his former teammate Hristo Stoichkov.

Both former players are expected to be formally announced at a press conference going to be held at the premises of Litex Lovech in a few days time. It is thought that Hristo Stoichkov is on a salary worth around € 1 million per year, while Gheorghe Hagi is not too far behind. However, the exact details of the perks being provided to Gheorghe Hagi has not been revealed. Despite being highly rated as players, Gheorghe Hagi and Hristo Stoichkov have not been successful in their managing careers, but will be hoping for a change in fortune at Litex Lovech.

Romania aim for 2020

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Bulgaria and Romania are both looking at the opportunity to host the Euro 2020 championships. They both will be the joint hosts in very much the same way as Australia and Switzerland hosted the Euro 2008, while Ukraine and Poland will also be doing the same thing when it comes to the Euro 2012. The European championships have been a great way of improving the infrastructure of the particular region, and it seems that Bulgaria and Romania have been showing a lot of interest towards doing the same in their regions as well. The decision to host the Euro 2020 championships was announced by Bulgarian Football Union head Borislav Mihaylov recently.

He said that there is no reason for Bulgaria to be dormant when it comes to hosting major football tournaments because Bulgaria already have the major infrastructures needed to do such an event. Borislav Mihaylov was a goalkeeper during his career and has played for Bulgaria in international competitions. “I discussed the matter with a Romanian colleague of mine, but this is a very distant perspective. There is a lot of time until then,” he said regarding the possibility of hosting Euro 2020 along with Romania. It is thought that the decision to host the next major European competition jointly came up in March 2011 after Mihaylov became one of the members among the UEFA’s executive committee.

Euro 2020 will also be especially profitable for both Bulgaria and Romania should they get the opportunity to host the competition because it would be featuring two different themes rather than the 16 teams currently involved. The current format, which has 16 teams playing in different groups, will be abandoned following the end of the Euro 2012. The Euro 2016 will be held in France and is all set to feature 24 teams.

Hagi Backs Women and Children

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After all the hooliganism and vandalism that has been taking place in Turkish football in recent years, the Turkish FA have finally found a way of making fans sit up and take notice of them, and take responsibility for their actions.

Following fresh controversy last week in matches at both Galatasaray and Fenerbache, the Turkish FA have found a new approach to dealing with the trouble-makers – making sure that they can’t get into the stadium. Whilst similar schemes have focussed on taking out the one or two ring-leaders who might arrange all the trouble in the first-place, the latest sanction is to simply ban every single male over 18 years old.

Fenerbache were one fo the first to be forced to play a match without their usual, vocal, male support, and former Gala-coach Gheorge hagi believes it was a success, and should send strong signals to the minority who are more interested in violence and destruction than watching the game.

“I think that these types of situations [when women and children are the only ones allowd in] are good for the game. Fenerbahce got the job under way and the stadium is a very beautiful with woman and children filling it. It proves that the clubs don’t need the trouble-makers, as they can sell out their stadiums without them, and will hopefully get the thugs thinking twice before thay launch attacks at football matches.”

Gheorge Hagi Biography

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Gheorghe Hagi is the Romanian midfielder who is regarded as one of the greatest ever during the late 20th century. He is known for his exceptional passing skills, while also scoring plenty of goals in the process. Many also regarded him to be the greatest Romanian footballer ever. He is often called by the nickname Regele, which translates into The King. Many also regard him as the Maradona of Europe. He is best known for his exploits with the Romanian national team. He has represented the national team in six major tournaments, which includes the World Cup and the European championships.

Gheorghe Hagi started his career with Romanian club Farul Constanţa in 1982. However, he spent only one season with the club before moving to Sportul Studenţesc. It was with Sportul Studenţesc that his reputation started to blossom amidst interest from various European clubs. However, in the end, it was Romanian club Steaua Bucureşti who managed to acquire the services of the diminutive midfielder in 1987. Having spent most of his early part of the career in Romania, Gheorghe Hagi found no difficulty in settling into the new setup.

He was soon scoring plenty of goals and interests 97 appearances for Steaua Bucureşti, he had managed a quite impressive 76 goals from midfield. It soon lead to transfer interest from major clubs across Europe like Real Madrid, who in the end, ended up signing the Romanian for $4.3 million. It was one of the largest transfer fees paid during that time. He spent two seasons with Real Madrid before moving to Brescia.

After helping Brescia win the promotion back to the top flight in 1994, Gheorghe Hagi returned to Spain, but this time playing for Real Madrid’s archrivals Barcelona. His stay in Spain did not last long once again after he moved to Galatasaray in 1996. He spent five years with the Turkish club making 132 appearances before retiring in 2001. Gheorghe Hagi managed to retire as one of the greatest players in the world.

It is on the international stage Gheorghe Hagi has had the most success. He has represented the Romanian national team in 125 appearances and scored 35 goals. Even though the national team did not win any major trophies, he won individual accolades like the European Cup top scorer in 1988, and the inclusion into the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. He was also voted in the FIFA 100 list.

In terms of the success in the club career, Gheorghe Hagi has won the likes of the Romanian League, Turkish Super League, UEFA Cup, European Super Cup, and the Supercopa de España.

Gheorghe Hagi started his management career by managing the Romanian national team in 2001. He, however, failed to qualify for the World Cup. After a two-year break, Gheorghe Hagi returned to management with Bursaspor. Over the years, Gheorghe Hagi has managed the likes of Galatasaray, Politehnica Timişoara, and Steaua Bucureşti. His most successful coaching career has been with Galatasaray, with whom he has won the Turkish Cup in 2005.