Athlete of the week
Footballer Ianis Hagi
Eugen Nasta, 17.12.2024, 13:45
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.
