Sport Club RRI – Monument to the Golden Generation of Romanian football
A special monument honors the players who grabbed the most notable results with Romania's football team
Eugen Cojocariu and Florin Orban, 18.09.2024, 13:45
The 1990s were the best in the history of the Romanian national football team. The Romanian footballers qualified to three World Cup final tournaments, namely in 1990, in Italy, in 1994, when the competition was held in the United States, and in 1998, when France was the host. The furthest Romania ever reached was the quarterfinals played against Sweden in 1994, an opportunity wasted at the penalty shootout. The players who represented Romania in these competitions are said to form the so-called Golden Generation of Romanian football. Athletes such as Gheorghe Hagi, Gheorghe Popescu, Ionuţ Lupescu, Ilie Dumitrescu or Dan Petrescu also found recognition in big European clubs, with which they won major trophies over the years.
A few days ago, a monument devoted to the Golden Generation was inaugurated in Bucharest, located in the immediate vicinity of National Arena Stadium. The sculpture was unveiled by Gheorghe Hagi and Ilie Dumitrescu. Attending the event were Florin Răducioiu, Jean Vlădoiu, Emil Săndoi, Dorin Mateuţ or Bogdan Stelea. Gheorghe Popescu exclusively told our colleague Eugen Cojocariu what this moment meant for him:
“It’s an event that honors us, I don’t know if the Golden Generation was the most valuable. We had before us the generation of Cornel Dinu, Mircea Lucescu, Florea Dumitrache, then the generation of Ilie Balaci, Costică Ştefănescu and all the others, Michael Klein, Ioan Andone… But we are the generation that proved it is possible, the generation that grabbed the most important performances with the national team, and we are glad that our results are thus recognized”.
In turn, Ilie Dumitrescu told us the secret behind such a valuable generation:
“There were competitions for children and juniors at the highest level. And I really believe that the competition was also very, very strong at senior level. That’s how many players developed. Later, the results came in European competitions, at club level, as well as at the national team”.
The monument devoted to the Golden Generation reproduces an oversized football goal, 4 meters high and 10 meters wide, a size chosen in relation to the space in which it is placed, in a roundabout way. A team of 10 people worked on the construction of the monument for almost two months, while other teams helped complete the project. (VP)
