Gheorghe "Gică" Popescu (; born 9 October 1967) is a Romanian former professional football player who played as a defender, currently he is the owner and the president of Liga I club Farul Constanța.
He notably played in La Liga, where he was 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. For 13 years, Popescu consistently ranked within the top four of the Romanian Footballer of the Year award between 1989 and 2001, winning it six times.
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 the 1990 World Cup, the 1994 World Cup, Euro 1996, the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. He is the brother-in-law of fellow Romanian international Gheorghe Hagi.
Club career
Dunărea Calafat
Popescu, nicknamed Baciul (The Shepherd) due to his leadership skills, was born on 9 October 1967 in Calafat, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1975 at local club Dunărea. During his childhood years, his father would take him to Universitatea Craiova's matches during their "Craiova Maxima" era, and at one point Popescu told him:"Father, the day will come when I will be in Ștefănescu's place. And the people will love me more than him!" Ghiță agreed, training Popescu despite severe winter conditions. Popescu made his Divizia A debut on 9 June 1985, when coach Florin Halagian sent him in the second half to replace Marian Bâcu in a 1–0 home victory against FCM Brașov. He scored his first goal in the competition almost one year later in a 7–0 win over Rapid București. He also played in both legs of the European Cup semi-finals in the 2–0 aggregate loss to Benfica.
He returned in 1988 to "U" Craiova where in the following two seasons he developed an appetite for goals, netting 15 goals. He made his Eredivisie debut on 28 August 1990 in a 5–0 home win over FC Utrecht. He scored his first goal on 8 September 1990, sealing the win in a 3–0 victory over MVV Maastricht. In his first two seasons, Popescu won two league titles under Robson. In his years at PSV, Popescu was a regular starter for the club, also developing a close friendship with Brazilians Romário and Ronaldo.
Tottenham Hotspur
He was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on 9 September 1994 for a fee of £2.9 million, being teammates with fellow Romanian Ilie Dumitrescu. He made his league debut on 24 September 1994, as coach Osvaldo Ardiles used him the entire match in a 4–1 away loss to Nottingham Forest. He made 23 league appearances and scored three goals, including one in a home win against Arsenal, when he beat goalkeeper David Seaman after a counter-attack.
Barcelona
However, after less than a year in England, he left Tottenham to sign for Spanish club Barcelona for £3 million, succeeding Ronald Koeman in the team. Popescu made his La Liga debut on 2 September 1995, opening the scoring in a 2–0 away win against Real Valladolid. In his first season, he played alongside compatriot Gheorghe Hagi and was coached by Johan Cruyff.
In his second season, his former coach from PSV, Bobby Robson became Barcelona's manager, and made Popescu the club's captain ahead of veterans Pep Guardiola and Albert Ferrer, and superstars Ronaldo, Luis Figo, and Luis Enrique. The Copa del Rey was won after a 3–2 win over Real Betis in the final. Then, in the Cup Winners' Cup he scored one goal against AIK Stockholm in the quarter-finals and played the first half of the 1–0 win in the final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Galatasaray
After leaving Barcelona in the summer of 1997, Popescu was transferred to Galatasaray in Turkey, where he reunited with Hagi, and with Romanians Adrian Ilie and Iulian Filipescu also at the club. He made his Turkish league debut on 31 July 1997 under coach Fatih Terim in a 0–0 draw against Ankaragücü, scoring his first goal in the competition on 26 September 1997 in a 4–1 home win over Şekerspor. In his first three seasons, he won three league titles, two Turkish Cups and the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup in May 2000 – where Galatasaray defeated Arsenal in the final on penalties after a goalless draw in open play.
In June 2000, Mircea Lucescu replaced Fatih Terim as coach, and the club clinched the 2000 UEFA Super Cup after a 2–1 victory against Real Madrid. They also reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League during the 2000–01 season, where after a 3–2 victory in the first leg, they lost 3–0 in the second leg against Real Madrid.
Lecce
In 2001, Popescu moved to Serie A club Lecce, stating in an interview with la Repubblica: "I think of Lecce as something romantic. It is the only team in Italy that comes from the south of the country. I am fascinated by the battle with the troops of the North. I would like to complete my two-year contract". He wore the number 10 shirt, scoring a brace in a 4–3 loss to Bologna and one goal in his last appearance for I Lupi, a 1–1 draw against Torino. After the match, fans chanted for Popescu to leave and told Giani Kiriță, the club's captain before Popescu's arrival, to tell him to leave. Popescu scored his only league goal when he opened the scoring in a 2–1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. The final game of his career took place on 17 May 2003, ending in a 2–2 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach, a result that earned Hannover the point that mathematically saved them from relegation.
1990 World Cup
He played six matches and scored once with a header in a 1–0 victory over Bulgaria during the 1990 World Cup qualifiers. In the final tournament, where coach Jenei used him in all four matches, Romania was eliminated by Ireland on penalties in the round of 16. The following day, his agent, Mircea Petescu, presented him with a contract offer from Real Madrid, which he ultimately declined in favor of PSV Eindhoven. AC Milan captain Franco Baresi stated that he considered Popescu the best sweeper of the tournament.
1994 World Cup
He made seven appearances and scored one goal in a 4–1 victory over Cyprus during the 1994 World Cup qualifiers. Subsequently, they were eliminated by Sweden after the penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals.
1998 World Cup
During the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, he made eight appearances, scoring one goal against Iceland, a hat-trick against Macedonia and four goals against Liechtenstein, making him his side's top-scorer. Popescu was used as a starter by Iordănescu in all four games in the final tournament. To celebrate, the team dyed their hair blonde and showed up on the pitch with their new look.
Euro 2000
Popescu played nine games and scored one goal in the 7–0 win over Liechtenstein in the Euro 2000 qualifiers. In the last one, against England, he was made captain as Hagi was suspended, but he got injured after the first 30 minutes and was replaced by Miodrag Belodedici. In 2022, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) included Popescu in its "Romania's all-time dream team" first XI.
Style of play
A highly inteligent defender who could play as a libero, center-back or as a defensive midfielder, Popescu is mostly known for captaining Barcelona during the mid 1990s. Known for his strong leadership skills, elegant tackles, distribution and passing skills, Popescu was fully capable of starting attacks from inside his own half. He was also a prominent goal-scoring defender, scoring 16 goals for the national team.
After retirement
In 2000, he opened the "Gheorghe Popescu Football School" in Craiova, which developed players such as Ionuț Rada, Adrian Stoian, Sabrin Sburlea, Constantin Grecu and Ovidiu Burcă. For a while, he also worked as a sports agent.
In 2003, journalist Daniel Nanu released a book about him titled Gică Popescu - Viața mea (Gheorghe Popescu - My Life).
In 2010, Popescu was one of the founding members of Chindia Târgoviște through one of his companies, leaving the club in 2013. In 2019, he was appointed by Gheorghe Hagi as president at Viitorul Constanța, then when the club merged with Farul Constanța, he continued to work as president for the new club.
Personal life
He is the brother-in-law of fellow Romanian international Gheorghe Hagi, as he married Hagi's wife's sister. His son Nicolas is also a footballer, as is his nephew Ianis Hagi – both of the younger men were born in Istanbul while their fathers were playing for Galatasaray.
In 1994, Popescu was named Honorary Citizen of Bucharest. In 2003, he received the Honorary Citizen of Craiova title.
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. 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 contributed to the reduction of his sentence, as is customary under Romanian law.
Career statistics
Club
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|National Cup
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Continental
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="7"|Universitatea Craiova
|1984–85
|rowspan="6"|Divizia A
|2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||0||0||2||0
|-
|1985–86
|18||1||3||0||colspan="2"|–||3||0||24||1
|-
|1986–87
|31||1||2||1||colspan="2"|–||4||0||37||2
|-
|1987–88
|14||1||0||0||colspan="2"|–||2||0||20||3
|-
|rowspan="6"|PSV
|1990–91
|rowspan="5"|Eredivisie
|30||5||3||1||colspan="2"|–||2||0||6||0||colspan="2"|–||28||3
|-
|rowspan="3"|Barcelona
|1995–96
|rowspan="2"|La Liga
|37||5||5||2||colspan="2"|–||8||0||8||0||14||0||43||2
|-
|2000–01
|24||0||3||0||colspan="2"|–||15||0||42||0
|-
|2001–02
|1||0||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||3