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 Gheorghe Hagi, Nadia Comãneci and The Cheeky Girls. The connection? Arguably the most famous exports of Romania. The tedious draw back in December for Euro 2008 conjured up much excitement regarding the so called “Group of Death”. Hence the Romanians finding themselves stuck in a pool with Italy, France and the Netherlands. As the expectation continues to increase for the “big” nations, Romania remain the widely tipped whipping boys of the upcoming tournament.
However, despite little hope of progression, the team that knocked England out just eight years previously may cause some shocks and not this time just by bleaching their hair. Described by travel guide books as “the most beautiful country in Eastern-Europe,” and in spite of Monica and Gabriela Irimia and their “Cheeky Song”, Romania remains an unspoilt and unrenowned nation. It would further surprise many to know that Romania have been one of the most successful countries in the history of Summer Olympic Games bagging 284 medals to date. Many of these triumphs have come in the field of gymnastics, most notably when Comãneci delighted the world and popularized her sport when being awarded the perfect 10 score. However despite continued achievements in gymnastics, Romanian club footballing success has declined since club side Steaua Bucharest won the European Cup in 1986. 
At club level the Romanian Liga 1 is constantly shared between the two main Bucharest teams, Steaua just edging the fan base and accomplishments from rivals Dinamo. It is on the international field though that their record has proved unpredictable. Romania’s golden years came with “The Maradona of the Carpathians,” leading them. Gheorghe Hagi, nicknamed such for his skill and controversy (infamously attacked a referee), is considered a hero both in his homeland and in Turkey. Hagi, the golden player of Romanian football, took his side to the quarter finals of World Cup 94 as well as representing his country at Italia 90, France 98 and at the European Championships of 84, 96 and 2000. The latter when Romania sent England flying out of the competition to reach the quarter finals. Hagi did not just limit his success to Eastern Europe and in fact remains one of the few footballers to have played for both Spanish giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Now though the “Romanian football player of the century” has retired and after a brief spell of managing the country, Romania is searching for a new hero. The main candidates remain Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu who both ply their trade in the Italian Serie A. Whereas Chivu continues to enhance his reputation as one of the finest defenders in Italy and commanded a €16 million fee from AS Roma, Mutu’s career hasn’t been as straight forward. His attacking threat and ability to play in various attacking positions attracted Chelsea to the Romanian. The well regarded dead ball specialist concluded an overall miserable spell in English football when in September 2001 he failed a drugs test for cocaine. Consequently Mutu was sacked, fined and banned for a period of seven months. Despite attempting to turn his career around at Juventus then Fiorentina and make a name for himself once again in Italy, the computer game Fifa have entered Mutu under false names since the drugs revelation. While appearing as Andrei Murgu on Fifa 08, Adrian Mutu is hoping to showcase his undisputed talent this summer against some of the best players in the world. Whilst Chivu is the captain of Romania, don’t bet against Mutu making a name for himself in the summer surprising many in his controversial style reminiscent of the Romanian legend Hagi. Similarly with the memories of Senegal, South Korea and Republic of Ireland, the trio of big named teams in the “Group of Death” should realise by now to never underestimate the underdog.
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