Tomorrow brings the first of the two semifinal matches of the 2006 World Cup. My money is on Germany tomorrow and France the next day. In the meantime, here is another classic moment from a previous World Cup featuring another one of soccer’s greats.
They call him "The Maradona of the Carpathians". His name is Gheorghe Hagi. He is the greatest soccer player ever to emerge from Romania and was a creative genius on the field. He retired from playing in 2001.
During the 1994 World Cup, he produced one of the most memorable goals of all time. In a game against Columbia, Hagi caught the Columbian goalkeeper off his line and lobbed a 35-meter strike over the keeper and into the corner of the net at the far post of the Columbian goal. With the entire Columbian defense in front of him, he placed the ball in the only spot on goal that the keeper could not reach. The Columbian goalkeeper was left shaking his head in amazement.
Click here to watch this beautiful goal.
Amazing stuff!
I remember Hagi when he played for Galatasaray, my best friend’s favorite team. That was awesome! 🙂