Former soccer/football player Gheorghe Hagi now spends his time on the other side of the field coaching up-and-coming players.
He has many tips to give them as he won his country's Player of the Year award an unprecedented six times, was named Romanian's football player of the century and scored 35 goals throughout his career, making him an international leader in the sport.
To top that all off, Hagi was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation in 2003 and the following year, was named among the top 125 living footballers.
The Maradona of the Carpathians began playing for local youth teams before being selected by the Romanian Football Federation to join the squad of Luceafarul Bucharest in 1980 for two years.
In a game against Norway held in 1983 when Hagi was 18, Hagi made his official debut as one of Romanian's star national team players. He helped them perform well in three world cups in 1990, 1994 and 1998 and three European football championships. The second world cup was considered to be the team's best performance as they were able to reach quarterfinals.
Four years later, after the 1998 World Cup, Hagi decided to retire from the national team, only to change his mind a few months later and play at the 2000 European Football Championship.
In 2001, Hagi was named the manager of Romania, replacing Ladislau B�l�ni, who left the squad to coach Sporting Lisbon. However, after failing to qualify the team for the World Cup, Hagi was fired.
In 2003, Hagi took over as coach of Turkish first division side Bursaspor, but left the club after a weak season start. He then became manager of Galatasaray in 2004, leading the team to the Turkish Football Cup in 2005.
Hagi retired from professional football in 2001 at the age of 36 but still enjoys coaching. He also owns a hotel on the Romanian Black Sea coast.