Gheorghe Popescu

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Gheorghe ("Gică") Popescu (born October 9, 1967 in Calafat) is a former Romanian footballer who played as a defender, and was a key part of the Romanian national team in the 1990s. He played for a string of European clubs in an illustrious career that saw him amass many honours. His tactical knowledge as a defender made him valuable team member in top European competitions even until he reached his late-thirties. Beside from his defending skills, his is also capable of using the ball and starting attacks from deep.

At international level, Popescu stands among Romania's all-time most capped players with 115, in which he scored 16 goals. He played for his country in the 1990, 1994, and 1998 World Cups, Euro 96 and Euro 2000. He also entered the symbolic but exclusive circle of players with a century of caps.^[1]

He is the brother-in-law of fellow Romanian international Gheorghe Hagi.

Popescu was never outside the top 4 in the Romanian Footballer of the Year awards for 13 years from 1989 until 2001. He was recently voted into Romanian footballs all-time World Cup team. Link

[edit] Clubs

[edit] Romania

• Universitatea Craiova (07/1985 - 12/1987)
• Steaua Bucharest (01/1988 - 06/1988)
• Universitatea Craiova (07/1988 - 06/1990)
• Dinamo Bucuresti (07/2002 - 11/2002)

[edit] Netherlands

• PSV Eindhoven (07/1990 - 08/1994)

[edit] England

• Tottenham Hotspur (09/1994 - 06/1995)

[edit] Spain

• FC Barcelona (07/1995 - 06/1997)

[edit] Turkey

• Galatasaray (07/1997 - 08/2001)

[edit] Italy

• US Lecce (09/2001 - 06/2002)

[edit] Germany

• Hannover 96 (01/2003 - 06/2003)

[edit] Club Honours

Steaua Bucharest

• Romanian League: 1987-88
• Romanian Cup: 1987-88

PSV Eindhoven

• Dutch League: 1990-91, 1991-92
• Dutch Super Cup: 1991-92

FC Barcelona

• Spanish Cup: 1996-97
• Spanish Super Cup: 1996
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97

Galatasaray

• Turkish League: 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00
• Turkish Cup: 1998-99, 1999-00
• UEFA Cup: 1999-00
• UEFA Super Cup: 2000

Individual

• Romanian Footballer of the Year: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996

[edit] International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.

International goals
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	FYR Macedonia	1–0	3–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
8	14 December 1996	Gradski Stadium, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia	FYR Macedonia	2–0	3–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
9	14 December 1996	Gradski Stadium, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia	FYR Macedonia	3–0	3–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
10	29 March 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	2–0	8–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
11	29 March 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	3–0	8–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
12	29 March 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	6–0	8–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
13	29 March 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	8–0	8–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
14	6 June 1998	Stadionul Ilie Oană, Ploieşti, 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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Euro 2000 profile at bbc.co.uk
• Club Stats
• [2]
• 4th Highest Appearance Record
• Full Stats

Romanian football portal

v • d • e Romania squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup 1 Lung • 2 Rednic • 3 Klein • 4 Andone • 5 Rotariu • 6 G. Popescu • 7 Lăcătuş • 8 Sabău • 9 Cămătaru • 10 Hagi • 11 Lupu • 12 Stelea • 13 A. Popescu • 14 Răducioiu • 15 Mateuţ • 16 Timofte • 17 Dumitrescu • 18 Balint • 19 Săndoi • 20 Muzsnay • 21 Lupescu • 22 Liliac • Coach: Jenei

v • d • e Romania squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Prunea • 2 Petrescu • 3 Prodan • 4 Belodedici • 5 Lupescu • 6 Popescu • 7 Munteanu • 8 Chiriţă • 9 Răducioiu • 10 Hagi • 11 Dumitrescu • 12 Stelea • 13 Selymes • 14 Mihali • 15 Panduru • 16 Vlădoiu • 17 Moldovan • 18 Gâlcă • 19 Papură • 20 Stîngă • 21 Ivan • 22 Preda • Coach: Iordănescu

v • d • e Romania squad – UEFA Euro 1996 1 Stelea • 2 Petrescu • 3 Prodan • 4 Belodedici • 5 Lupescu • 6 Popescu • 7 Lăcătuş • 8 Sabău • 9 Răducioiu • 10 Hagi • 11 Munteanu • 12 Prunea • 13 Selymes • 14 Gâlcă • 15 Doboş • 16 Mihali • 17 Filipescu • 18 Stîngă • 19 Ilie • 20 Moldovan • 21 Vlădoiu • 22 Tene • Coach: Iordănescu

v • d • e Romania squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Stângaciu • 2 Petrescu • 3 Dulca • 4 Doboş • 5 Gâlcă • 6 Gheorghe Popescu • 7 Lăcătuş • 8 Munteanu • 9 Moldovan • 10 Hagi • 11 Ilie • 12 Stelea • 13 Ciobotariu • 14 Niculescu • 15 Marinescu • 16 Gabriel Popescu • 17 Dumitrescu • 18 Filipescu • 19 Stîngă • 20 Selymes • 21 Craioveanu • 22 Prunea • Coach: Iordănescu

v • d • e Romania squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Lobonţ • 2 Petrescu • 3 Ciobotariu • 4 Filipescu • 5 Gâlcă • 6 Popescu • 7 Mutu • 8 Munteanu • 9 Moldovan • 10 Hagi • 11 Ilie • 12 Stelea • 13 Chivu • 14 Petre • 15 Lupescu • 16 Roşu • 17 Belodedici • 18 Ganea • 19 Lincar • 20 Hîldan • 21 Prunea • 22 Contra • Coach: Jenei