Radio România Internațional

Tag: footballer

  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    Football competitions in Scotland are among the world’s oldest such events. The Scottish League Cup made its debut during the 1873-1874 season. The Scottish championship’s inaugural edition was held in 1891, so tradition is reason enough for such competitions to enjoy world-level prestige, despite the fact that not all the teams vying for titles are top-flight squads.

    Scotland also has a third top-notch competition, The Scottish League Cup, the world’s oldest League Cup. Its inaugural edition was held in the 1946-1947 season. In 2024, in the Scottish League Cup final, a Romanian was on the pitch, Ianis Hagi, currently signed up by Glasgow Rangers. Rangers lost after the penalty shootout in their game against the other Glasgow team, Celtic.

    For his good run in the Rangers-Celtic final, Radio Romania International designated Ianis Hagi the Athlete of the week.

    For Glasgow Rangers, Ianis Hagi was on the pitch all throughout the game, in the 90-minute regular time and in extra time. Glasgow drew first blood late into the first half, Celtic scored twice, securing a 2-1 advantage. Rangers levelled the score but Celtic scored again. The fate of the game was sealed by Rangers’ goal on 88 minutes; the final score after 90 minutes was 3-all.

    Extra time did not bring any change so the penalty shootout followed. Celtic won, 5-4. Ianis Hagi was among Rangers’ scorers.

    Our top-notch footballer is the son of Gheorghe Hagi, one of Romania’s greatest footballers of all time. Ianis Hagi was born on October 22, 1998 in Turkey, at the time when his father played for Galatasaray. He took up football with the Gheorghe Hagi Academy in Ovidiu a locality close to Romania’s greatest Black Sea port, Constanta.

    Ianis made his debut in Romania’s top-tier league with Viitorul Constanta, a team also head-coached by his father, Gheorghe Hagi. Ianis then played for Fiorentina in Italy, for Genk in Belgium and for Glasgow Rangers.

    Ianis Hagi was on loan from Rangers playing for Spanish club Deportivo Alaves, only to be summoned back by the Scottish team. Ianis made his debut with the National team in the fall of 2018, in a League of Nations fixture against Lithuania, a game Romania won, 3-nil.

  • Romania’s U-21 team has gone through to the UEFA 2021 European Under-21 Championship.

    Romania’s U-21 team has gone through to the UEFA 2021 European Under-21 Championship.


    Romania this past Tuesday held Denmark to a 1-all draw on home turf. The repeated performance earned Romanias U-21 team the qualification to a European championship. The game against Denmark was quite tense, with unpardonable refereeing mistakes, of which at least one could have deprived the Romanian team of qualification. However, the goal scored by the young Valentin Costache saved a game which was compromised, apparently. At the end of Romanias game against Denmark, the head-coach of Romanias U-21 team, former international footballer Adrian Mutu, said it would have been a pity for his team not to grab the win, because of the concocted penalties. Mutu went on to heap praise on his players, saying they were exceptional footballers who in the future will be part of the seniors team. Adrian Mutu did not fail to extend his thanks to his predecessor who was at the helm of the seniors team, Mirel Radoi, who contributed to the success of the team.



    According to the groups final rankings, Denmark came at the top of the table. Following in descending order were Romania, Ukraine, Finland, Northern Ireland and Malta. The nine teams that came at the top of the table in the preliminary groups as well as the best five teams in the runner-up position will join host teams Hungary and Slovenia for UEFA 2021 European Under-21 Championship. Matches as part of the four groups of the final tournament are scheduled for March 2021. The teams that will go though from the group stage, the first two teams in descending order will fight for the European title in the eliminatory stages scheduled in Hungary and Slovenia, over May 31 and June 6, 2021.



    The footballer who scored the goal in the match against Denmark, Valentin Costache, voiced his hope that at the 2021 edition of the European Under-21 Championship Romanias U-21 teams performance would be on a par with the remarkable feat the team succeeded in the previous edition of the championship, jointly held in Italy and San Marino. Back them the team reached as far as the semifinals. We recall defending champion team Germany eliminated Romania, a team that had the upper hand for the first half of the game. It was an auspicious tournament for Romanian footballers.The team qualified for the semifinals from the top position in a strong group which included Croatia and England, teams Romania outclassed, as well as France, a team Romania held to a blank draw. In 2019, Romanias qualification was tantamount to booking the tickets for the Tokyo Olympics, delayed until 2021 because of the pandemic. Everybody spoke highly of Romanias U-21 team, yet that cannot avoid the mediocrity the seniors team has indulged in so far. Pundits also ask what happens with the U-21 footballers when they grow mature. Former international footballer Mirel Radois remarkable feats with the U-21 team earned him the position of head-coach for the seniors team. However, with Radoi at the helm, the seniors team failed to qualify for the European championship. At the moment, the only thing the national team can do is fight for a better position in the recently-invented UEFA Nations League. Such a position might create a better chance ahead of the drawing of lots for the next edition of the World Championship.



    Romanias last participation in a world championship occurred in 1998, in France.


    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)