Football’s Greatest Goals No.62

This week’s Greatest Goal comes from ‘The Maradona of the Carpathians’, Gheorghe Hagi.

Hagi was playing for his national side Romania against Colombia in the 1994 World Cup, when in the 34th minute he received the ball wide on the left wing.
He spotted Colombian goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba slightly off his line and after taking a couple of touches, hit the ball high and hard over the goalkeeper’s head. His shot dipped just under the crossbar into the far corner of the net.

The goal took everybody by surprise, but Hagi definitely would have meant it. The Romanian was one of the most gifted players of his generation and the greatest player to have come from Romania.

Hagi’s goal in the 34th minute gave Romania a two-goal lead after Florin Raducioiu had opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Adolfo Valencia got one back for the South Americans shortly before half time but Raducioiu added his second of the game to secure the win in the 89th minute.

Romania went on to reach the Quarter Finals where they were beaten by a strong Sweden team. The 1994 era is seen as Romania’s golden era and a few of their squad joined Premier League teams after the tournament. Hagi left Italian side Bari after the tournament to join Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona, where he stayed for two years before ending his career at Turkish side Galatasary.

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