Английская Википедия:Gheorghe Popescu (footballer, born 1967)

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Gheorghe "Gică" Popescu (Шаблон:IPA-ro; born 9 October 1967) is a Romanian former professional football player who played as a defender.

He notably played in La Liga where he is a former captain of FC Barcelona. 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. He also played in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur, in Serie A with Lecce and in the Bundesliga with Hannover 96. In his native country he played for Universitatea Craiova, Steaua București and Dinamo București. In addition to his defensive skills, he was also capable of starting attacks deep from his own half.

His tactical knowledge as a defender made him a valuable team member in top European competitions until he reached his late-thirties. He was a key part of the Romania national team in the 1990s and earned 115 caps, scoring 16 goals. He was present at 1990 World Cup, 1994 World Cup, Euro 1996, 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. He is the brother-in-law of fellow Romanian international Gheorghe Hagi.

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 1996 and Euro 2000. He also entered the symbolic but exclusive circle of players with a century of caps.[5]

Personal life

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

Tax evasion and imprisonment

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] He was released for good conduct on 4 November 2015, after serving half of his sentence, the books he wrote and published during his imprisonment also helping towards his reduced sentence as customary for Romanian law.[8]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[9][10]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Universitatea Craiova 1984–85 Divizia A 2 0 0 0 2 0
1985–86 18 1 3 0 21 1
1986–87 31 1 4 0 35 1
1987–88 14 1 2 0 16 1
1988–89 33 8 0 0 33 8
1989–90 26 7 0 0 26 7
Total 124 18 9 0 133 18
Steaua București (loan) 1987–88 Divizia A 13 1 3 0 16 1
PSV 1990–91 Eredivisie 30 5 1 2 0 32 6
1991–92 29 7 0 3 0 32 7
1992–93 24 6 0 6 0 30 6
1993–94 23 5 0 1 1 24 6
1994–95 2 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 108 23 1 12 1 120 25
Tottenham Hotspur 1994–95 Premier League 23 3 3 0 2 0 28 3
Barcelona 1995–96 La Liga 39 5 7 2 8 1 54 8
1996–97 29 4 5 0 8 1 42 5
Total 68 9 12 2 16 1 96 12
Galatasaray 1997–98 1.Lig 32 2 8 2 8 0 48 4
1998–99 29 2 5 1 8 0 42 3
1999–2000 25 2 3 0 14 0 42 2
2000–01 24 0 3 0 15 0 42 0
2001–02 1 0 3 0 4 0
Total 111 6 19 3 48 0 178 9
Lecce 2001–02 Serie A 28 3 0 0 28 3
Dinamo București 2002–03 Divizia A 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Hannover 2002–03 Bundesliga 14 1 0 0 14 1
Career total 497 64 34 6 2 0 88 3 621 73

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[5]
National team Year Apps Goals
Romania 1988 4 0
1989 8 1
1990 14 0
1991 6 0
1992 4 1
1993 4 0
1994 15 1
1995 5 0
1996 8 6
1997 7 4
1998 12 2
1999 8 0
2000 6 0
2001 5 1
2002 8 0
2003 1 0
Total 115 16
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Popescu goal.
List of international goals scored by Gheorghe Popescu
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 May 1989 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 1–0 1–0 FIFA World Cup 1990 Qualifying
2 29 November 1992 Neo GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus Шаблон:Fb 1–0 4–1 FIFA World Cup 1994 Qualifying
3 12 November 1994 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 1–0 3–2 UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying
4 1 June 1996 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 2–0 3–1 Friendly
5 1 June 1996 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 3–0 3–1 Friendly
6 9 October 1996 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Шаблон:Fb 3–0 4–0 World Cup 1998 Qualifying
7 14 December 1996 Gradski Stadium, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Шаблон:Fb 1–0 3–0 World Cup 1998 Qualifying
8 14 December 1996 Gradski Stadium, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Шаблон:Fb 2–0 3–0 World Cup 1998 Qualifying
9 14 December 1996 Gradski Stadium, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Шаблон:Fb 3–0 3–0 World Cup 1998 Qualifying
10 29 March 1997 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 2–0 8–0 World Cup 1998 Qualifying
11 29 March 1997 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 3–0 8–0 World Cup 1998 Qualifying
12 29 March 1997 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 6–0 8–0 World Cup 1998 Qualifying
13 29 March 1997 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 8–0 8–0 World Cup 1998 Qualifying
14 6 June 1998 Stadionul Ilie Oană, Ploieşti, Romania Шаблон:Fb 1–0 5–1 Friendly
15 2 September 1998 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 1–0 7–0 UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying
16 6 October 2001 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania Шаблон:Fb 1–1 1–1 World Cup 2002 Qualifying

Honours

Steaua București

PSV

Barcelona

Galatasaray

Individual

See also

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Further reading

External links

Шаблон:Commons category

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