Biography
Gică Popescu took his first steps in senior football at Universitatea Craiova (1984–1987, 65 matches, 3 goals). In 1988 he moved to Steaua, then returned to his first love, Știința (1988–1990, 50 matches, 15 goals).
After the World Cup in Italy he moved to the Netherlands, the start of a glittering career abroad: PSV Eindhoven (1990–1995, 108 matches, 23 goals), Tottenham Hotspur in England (1995, 23 matches, 3 goals), FC Barcelona in Spain (1995–1997, 68 matches, 9 goals), Galatasaray in Turkey (1997–2001, 110 matches, 5 goals) and Lecce in Italy (27 matches, 3 goals).
He returned to Romania in 2002 with Dinamo București, playing just 8 matches by the winter break, then left for Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga, where he made 14 appearances and scored once.
His international honours are impressive: the Spanish Cup in 1996 and the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1997 with FC Barcelona, as team captain; the Turkish league title with Galatasaray in 1998, 1999 and 2000, the Turkish Cup in 2000 and 2001, the Turkish Super Cup in 1999 and 2000, plus the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, also with Galatasaray.
He won 115 caps for Romania and scored 16 goals.
He was part of the national team at the World Cup finals in Italy (1990), the USA (1994) and France (1998), equalling Nicolae Kovacs’s record from 1938 of three consecutive World Cup finals appearances.
He also made an important contribution to Romania’s qualification for the European Championship finals in England (1996) and in Belgium and the Netherlands (2000).
