Gheorghe Popescu

Gheorghe "Gică" Popescu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe ˈd͡ʒikə poˈpesku]; born 9 October 1967) is a retired Romanian former professional football defender, former captain of FC Barcelona and key part of the Romania national team in the 1990s. He played for a string of European clubs in that period, including a four-year stint at PSV Eindhoven and winning the Uefa cup with Galatasaray SK. His tactical knowledge as a defender made him a valuable team member in top European competitions until he reached his late-thirties. Beside from his defending skills, he was also capable starting attacks. He is the brother-in-law of fellow Romanian international Gheorghe Hagi.

For the early 20th century Romanian footballer, see Gheorghe Popescu I.

Gheorghe Popescu
Popescu in 2016
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-10-09) 9 October 1967
Place of birth Calafat, Dolj County, Romania
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s) Sweeper, centre back, midfielder
Youth career
1978–1984 Dunărea Calafat
1984–1985 Universitatea Craiova
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1990 Universitatea Craiova 103 (22)
1988 → Steaua Bucureşti (loan) 13 (1)
1990–1994 PSV 109 (24)
1994–1995 Tottenham Hotspur 23 (3)
1995–1997 Barcelona 68 (9)
1997–2001 Galatasaray 111 (6)
2001–2002 Lecce 28 (3)
2002 Dinamo Bucureşti 8 (0)
2002–2003 Hannover 96 14 (1)
Total 467 (68)
National team
1988–2003 Romania 115 (16)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Club career

After playing six seasons for Universitatea Craiova, Popescu was loaned to Romanian giants Steaua Bucharest reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup during their 1987–88 campaign. He moved abroad to the Netherlands in 1990, and signed for PSV Eindhoven at the request of Sir Bobby Robson, helping them to keep among the top Dutch sides, until he was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on 9 September 1994 for a fee of £2.9million.[1] He played 23 times in the Premier League and scored three goals as Spurs (who changed manager from Ossie Ardiles to Gerry Francis a few weeks after Popescu arrived) finished seventh in the league – their highest finish for five years. He also helped them to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, where they lost 4–1 to eventual cup winners Everton.[2] However, after less than a year in England, he left Tottenham to sign for the Spanish club Barcelona for £3million, succeeding Ronald Koeman in the team.[3] He was made captain of the Catalan club, contributing to their Copa del Rey (domestic cup) glory in his first season and their UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph in his second.

After leaving Barcelona during the summer of 1997, he was transferred to Galatasaray of Turkey, where he spent four years and won several major trophies, including the UEFA Cup in May 2000 – where Galatasaray defeated Arsenal, key rivals of his old club Tottenham, on penalties after a goalless draw in open play and he scored the final penalty shot in the penalty shootout. He spent the 2001–2002 season in Italy with Serie A club Lecce, before returning to his native Romania for a brief spell with Dinamo Bucharest, before winding up with a season in Germany with Hannover 96.

Popescu was never outside the top four 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.[4]

International career

At international level, Popescu is Romania's all-time third 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.[5]

Criminal conviction

On 4 March 2014, Popescu and seven others, among them Mihai Stoica, were convicted by a Romanian appeals court of money laundering and tax evasion in connection with the transfer of football players from Romania to other countries. Popescu was sentenced to a jail term of three years and one month.[6][7]

Career statistics

Club

[8][9]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Romania League Cupa României Cupa Ligii Europe Total
1984–85Universitatea CraiovaDivizia A20–00
1985–86181–30
1986–87311–40
1987–88141–20
1987–88Steaua BucureştiDivizia A131–30
1988–89Universitatea CraiovaDivizia A338–00
1989–90267–00
Netherlands League KNVB Cup League Cup Europe Total
1990–91PSV EindhovenEredivisie3051–206
1991–922970–307
1992–932460–606
1993–942350–116
1994–95200–000
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
1994–95Tottenham HotspurPremier League2333020–283
Spain League Copa del Rey Copa de la Liga Europe Total
1995–96BarcelonaLa Liga39572–81548
1996–9729450–81425
Turkey League Türkiye Kupası League Cup Europe Total
1997–98GalatasarayFirst League32282–80484
1998–9929251–80423
1999–200025230–140422
2000–0124030–150420
2001–02Süper Lig10––3040
Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
2001–02LecceSerie A28300––283
Romania League Cupa României Cupa Ligii Europe Total
2002–03Dinamo BucureştiDivizia A8000–0080
Germany League DFB-Pokal DFB Ligapokal Europe Total
2002–03HannoverBundesliga14100––141
CountryRomania 14519–120
Netherlands 108231–12125
England 2333020–283
Spain 689122–1619612
Turkey 1116193–4801789
Italy 28300––283
Germany 14100––141
Total 49263883

Cup Includes Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España.

International

[5]

Romania national team
YearAppsGoals
198840
198981
1990140
199160
199241
199340
1994151
199550
199686
199774
1998122
199980
200060
200151
200280
200310
Total11516

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

Honours

Club

Steaua Bucureşti

PSV Eindhoven

Barcelona

Galatasaray

Individual
  • Romanian Footballer of the Year: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996[10]

References
  1. "Football: Spurs sign Popescu: Sugar takes outlay to 7.5m pounds". The Independent. 10 September 1994.
  2. "Gheorghe POPESCU". Sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  3. Ridley, Ian (13 August 1995). "Club-by-club guide: The prospects, the players to watch, the arrivals and departures". The Independent.
  4. "Planet World Cup: The All-Time World Cup Squads". planetworldcup.com. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  5. Mamrud, Roberto (5 April 2003). "Gheorghe Popescu - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  6. "Ex-aanvoerder Barcelona moet drie jaar de cel in" (in Dutch). De Standaard. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  7. "Gică Popescu, condamnat cu EXECUTARE cu o zi înaintea alegerilor de la FRF" (in Romanian). romaniatv.net. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  8. "Gheorghe Popescu". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  9. Gheorghe Popescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian) and StatisticsFootball.com
  10. Razvan Toma (6 January 2016). "Romania - Player of the Year Awards". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
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