By MJ Corrigan
July 3, 1994, Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California, World Cup quarterfinals, Romania vs. Argentina. Romania's players exchanged glances and inspired each other; their team has never had the same talent as it did at this moment: Gika Popescu of Eindhoven, Miodrage Beloddić of Valencia, Florin Radujoyu, who has won the Champions League with AC Milan twice, Lupescu of Bayer Leverkusen, Petrescu of Genoa, and their captain, Georgi Hagi of Brescia in Serie B.
The past is still dusty, but the memory is still shocking: how did Romania's greatest star end up in Serie B at its peak? Fast forward to 1987, when Romania was still a society shrouded in the "Iron Curtain" of Nicolas Ceausescu. As we all know, Haji's nickname is "Maradona of the Carpathians", and it is interesting that their head of state Ceausescu's title is exactly: "Star of Mankind", "Genius of the Carpathian". Although in the absence of a surveillance ear and a secret police, people prefer to call him a "fool".
Like many dictators in Eastern Europe, Ceausescu's power has seeped into football. Romania's no. 1 magnate, the Bucharest star, was operated behind the scenes by his son Valentine. In early 1987, Valentine brought Haji to the Stars, and two years later, in the Champions League final, the Stars lost 4-0 to AC Milan, but Haji became popular in Europe with his wonderful performances in the competition. Not surprisingly, Serie A, which was still in Europe at the time, extended an olive branch to Haji. Both Juventus and AC Milan wanted to be able to recruit Haji under his wing, but Haji chose to stay in his home country:
"Every time I go to Western Europe[to play], I get an offer," Haji says, "I actually enjoy playing with them, and it's not hard for me to play there, but I don't want to do that yet." Because if I did go, I might never see my family. In recognition of Hajj's "loyalty," Ceausescu gave him a big gift: a Mercedes with a driver and a villa with a swimming pool, bearing in mind that Romania at that time was under Ceausescu's rule, and the economy was on the verge of collapse due to corruption. In December 1989, when the starvation and cold of the Romanian people finally broke out, Ceausescu and his wife were arrested, and on Christmas Day that year, Ceausescu and his wife were sentenced to capital punishment.
From that day on, no one could stop Haji from flying far away. After representing Romania at the 1990 World Cup, he joined Real Madrid, when Haji was 25 years old and at the peak of his career, and although he had already lived a superior life in Romania, Haji never forgot his original intention: "In the past, I wanted to beat those [Western European] players on the field because I was jealous of them. "They can wear new sneakers and beautiful jerseys as they want, but we can only wrap up in rags." ”
However, after actually joining Real Madrid, Haji found that his former aura and status had disappeared. For many years, he was a "brother" in Romania, but here Haji had an unprecedented sense of inferiority, and he even trembled when the world-famous Butragueno and Hugo Sanchez stood in front of him. Haji recalled, "I almost peed my pants when confronted with these superstars. In his two seasons with Real Madrid, Haji has scored just 14 goals, while he has averaged almost one goal per game for the stars. Reluctantly, "Maradona of the Carpathians" chose to move to the Apennines, joining Brescia, who was in the second division at the time, and he wanted to think about what was wrong here.
Romania was not favored at the 1994 World Cup, with their group stage rivals including hosts the United States, European powerhouse Switzerland and Colombia. You know, Colombia swept Argentina 5-0 in the qualifiers. Romania's first match was against this South American rival, but they resisted the pressure and eventually defeated the opponent 3-1. In this campaign, Haji scored a stunning shot that lifted his foot from 35 yards out of the goal. In addition, he assisted Radujojo to score twice, announcing to the world with his actual performance: I am back.
In the second game, Romania lost 4-1 to Switzerland, and Haji's goal of equalizing from 25 yards away became the only bright spot for the Eastern European Iron Horse. In the final game against the United States, Romania can qualify with a draw, and with Peter Lescu's goal, Romania successfully broke through and will challenge Argentina in the knockout rounds. At that time, Argentina had both rising stars such as Batistuta, Simone and Redondo, as well as the unparalleled Maradona. However, Maradona was expelled from the World Cup due to a positive drug test, and the heavily affected Argentina lost 0-2 to Bulgaria in the third match of the group stage. There are also conspiracy theorists who believe that Argentina deliberately lost the third battle in order to avoid Italy in the knockout rounds.
In the summer of Italy in 1990, Haji had a contest with Maradona, and the latter's expulsion made Haji regret, "Now that I think about it, I feel regretful, because Maradona is not there." I really, really want to beat him on the pitch. Still, the first half of the match became the most classic half-time in World Cup history, and the pace was suffocating. Romania scored first, after Batistuta's penalty changed the score to 1-1, but just two minutes after Barty scored, one of the most breathtaking scenes in football history fell from the sky.
Petrescu passed the ball to Hajj, who glanced at it and almost without fail passing the ball to the feet of Lupescu in the middle, who received the ball and knocked it on Haji. Haji, who was on the flank, noticed that there were no Romanian players in the penalty area at this time, and he had to fight for time for his teammates to insert themselves, and facing Cáceres, who came to defend, Haji suddenly slowed down and flicked the ball into the middle with his left foot. Cáceres thought that Haji was going to use his right foot, which he was not good at, and Haji found that teammate Dumitrescu was inserting into the Argentine defense at high speed and was unguarded. He replayed the ball to his left foot, and the action he made afterwards was unforgettable to Dumitrescu: "Haji gave me a talented pass. The Argentine defender was standing in a straight line and Haji's pass passed behind them, so stealthy that Argentine players, including goalkeeper Luis Islas, were deceived. Dumitrescu scored six yards in front of goal.
In the 58th minute, Dumitrescu and Haji once again staged a wonderful combination on the counter-attack, the former passed the "genius pass of his own", he passed the ball to Haji who inserted forward at high speed, and the two once again made a "Bailito Carlos Alberto" style combination. Romania's "midfield conspirators" scored the Argentine goal with their right foot, which they were not good at. Although Balbo moved back to a city for Argentina in the 75th minute, the battle was decided.
This is Romania's first time qualifying for the Quarter-Finals of the World Cup, and "since the Revolution (the overthrow of Ceausescu in 1989), this is probably the most important thing for the people of our country to celebrate." Romania coach Jordenescu said. Although they lost to Sweden in the quarter-finals, the Romanian national team was still regarded as a hero's triumph. In 1994, the traces of Ceausescu's rule were blurred, but the Romanians once again surrendered to another person, Haji. From then on, he had a new nickname: Regele (Romanian: King). A photograph of him dressed in a red and blue sword shirt from his new owner, Barcelona, hangs in almost every office, school, house and hospital in Romania. His name was frequently featured in newspapers. Unlike Ceausescu, Haji enjoyed the love of the Romanian people.
"It's simply impossible to go out with him," said Dorinel Montejanu, a left-back who made the most appearances for Romania and played well at the 1994 World Cup, "and every street and alley, there are people cheering for him." For Haji, from being manipulated by the dictator to being crowned "king", the reversal of fate is finally complete.
Note: Translator @小俊崽 kicks the right wing.
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