Gheorghe Popescu

Gică Popescu

Personal information
Full name	Gheorghe Popescu
Date of birth	(1967-10-09) 9 October 1967 (age 46)
Place of birth	Calafat, Dolj County, Romania
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Sweeper / Centre back / Midfielder
Youth career
1980–1984	Dunarea Calafat
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1984–1990	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. † Appearances (Goals).

Gheorghe Gică Popescu (born 9 October 1967 in Calafat) is a retired Romanian 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. 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.

Playing career

Club career

After playing six seasons for Universitatea Craiova, Popescu was loaned to country 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 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.^[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

^[8]

Cup Includes Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España.

^[5]

Club honours

Steaua Bucureşti

• Romanian League: 1987–88
• Romanian Cup: 1987–88

PSV Eindhoven

• Eredivisie: 1990–91, 1991–92
• Johan Cruijff Shield: 1992

FC Barcelona

• Copa del Rey: 1996–97
• Supercopa de España: 1996
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97

Galatasaray

• Süper Lig: 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000
• Turkish Cup: 1998–99, 1999–2000
• UEFA Cup: 1999–2000
• UEFA Super Cup: 2000

Individual

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

International goals

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

References

External links

• Gica Popescu's International caps
• Gica Popescu's career and stats at RomanianSoccer.ro
• Gheorghe Popescu at National-Football-Teams.com