Gheorghe Hagi (; born 5 February 1965 in Săcele ) is a former Romanian footballer of Aromanian descent.

The mass hysteria caused by these wins in Istanbul raised Hagi's popularity even further with the fans and made French ex-international Luis Fernández to say that " Hagi is like wine, the older it gets, the better it is ".

His former house is preserved as a museum near the Shoin Jinja, in Hagi city, Yamaguchi prefecture.

In his hometown-the castle town Hagi in western Japan-he is still remembered as a mystical and energetic hero, who put all his efforts into opening the way to modernization, westernization and reforms, not only in military matters but in political and social matters as well.

Yoshida Shōin is now enshrined at Shōin-jinja in Wakabayashi, Setagaya-ku ( 世田谷区若林4丁目35-1 ) in Tokyo, as well as in his birth place Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture ( 山口県萩市椿東1537 ).

Due to its proximity to the border to neighboring Yamaguchi, many tourists who come to Tsuwano also visit Hagi on the Sea of Japan and Yamaguchi at the same time, and Tsuwano is often mistaken as being located in Yamaguchi prefecture for this reason.

There is even one complete anomaly, a letter from Hagi Ibbi to Ben Josué ( Letter 37 ), neither of whom is mentioned elsewhere in the novel.

He is the brother-in-law of fellow Romanian international Gheorghe Hagi.

He is also loved by the supporters, but he has had his share of problems with his former Galatasaray managers Fatih Terim and Gheorghe Hagi.

In the first of Romania's group stage matches, against Colombia, Hagi scored one of the most memorable goals of that tournament, curling in a 40-yard lob over Colombian goalkeeper Oscar Córdoba who was caught out of position.

Yoshida Shōin was sent to a jail in Edo, then to one in Hagi where he was sentenced to house arrest.

At the finals, Romania were one of the most entertaining teams in the early stages with Hagi, Răducioiu and Dumitrescu on form.

Răducioiu, suspended, was hardly missed, as coach Anghel Iordănescu pushed Dumitrescu forward to play as a striker and the player responded by scoring twice in the first twenty minutes, one a superbly subtle left foot flick from a right-wing Hagi cross slotted between the Argentine defenders.

In 2000, former Romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi rated him as one of the finest ball-playing midfielders in Europe, and in 2006, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had suggested that if he were ten years younger, Tugay's ability would make him an ideal player for the Old Trafford team.

Four years later, after the 1998 World Cup, Hagi decided to retire from the national team, only to change his mind after a few months and play at the 2000 European Football Championship, during which he was sent off in the quarter-final loss against Italy.

In sports, Romanians have excelled in a variety of fields, such as football ( Gheorghe Hagi ), gymnastics ( Nadia Comăneci, Lavinia Miloşovici etc.

Since then international sculpture symposia have been held in numerous towns and cities around the world, including Lindabrunn, Austria and Hagi, YamaguchiHagi, Japan ( a town known for its pottery ).

Former Spanish captain and current FC Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola, the Romanian Gheorghe Hagi, striker Luca Toni, and Juventus star Andrea Pirlo — born in Brescia — have also spent time in Brescia.

World class players such as Pierre van Hooijdonk, Mário Jardel, Nicolas Anelka, John Carew, Milan Baroš, Radomir Antić, Óscar Córdoba, Lincoln, Mateja Kežman, Kleberson, Roberto Carlos, Zoran Simović, Frank de Boer, Giovani dos Santos, Franck Ribéry, Harry Kewell, Dani Güiza, Guti, Quaresma, Gheorghe Hagi, Jô, Abdul Kader Keita, Shabani Nonda, Lucas Neill, Lorik Cana, Giga Popescu, Jérôme Rothen and many more have played at some point or continue to play in Turkey.

During his Steaua years ( 1987 – 1990 ), Hagi played 97 Liga I games, scoring 76 goals.

Hagi played two seasons with Real Madrid and then was sold to Brescia Calcio.

Hagi made his debut for the Romania national team at the age of 18 in 1983 in a game against Norway played in Oslo.

With Emilio Butragueño, Míchel, Fernando Hierro, Manolo Sanchís, Gheorghe Hagi, and aging Hugo Sánchez as the club's established stars, Antić's debut took place at the Bernabéu versus Real Oviedo on Sunday, 24 March 1991, ending in somewhat disappointing 1 – 1 draw considering Oviedo played with 10 men since the 68th minute.

The ‘ 80s were the best years in the team's history, due to achieving extraordinary performances ( third place in 1982 -’ 83 and second place in 1985 -’ 86 championships ) but mostly because back then stars like Marcel Coraş and Gheorghe Hagi played for Sportul.

Hagi played for Sportul until 1986, when Steaua Bucureşti " borrowed " him before the final of the Champions Cup.

In the winter of 1987 Hagi was transferred to Romanian giants Steaua București as the team prepared for their European Super Cup final against FC Dynamo Kyiv.

After two years at FC Barcelona, Hagi signed for Galatasaray S. K .. At Galatasaray, he was both successful and highly popular among the Turkish supporters.

He was forced to give up all his land except for the Suō and Nagato areas ( current-day Yamaguchi Prefecture ), where he built his castle in Hagi.

Since then, Hagi developed as the political center of Chōshū for over 250 years.

He was forced to give up all his land except for the Suō and Nagato areas ( current-day Yamaguchi Prefecture ), where he built his castle in Hagi.

Once the understudy to Romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi, it seemed that the sky was the limit for Emre as he won 4 Süper Lig titles, 2 Turkish Cups, 1 UEFA Cup, and 1 UEFA Super Cup all by the age of 21.

In the 35th minute Hagi, in his final international tournament, hit the woodwork with goalkeeper Francesco Toldo stranded off his line and, after the break, was sent off for diving.

Gheorghe Hagi was borrowed this way from FC Sportul Studențesc for the 1987 European Super Cup match with SK Dinamo Kiev and afterwards continued, at his will, to play for Steaua, despite his former club's opposition.

On October 21, 2010, Galatasaray SK has announced that the legendary Tugay Kerimoglu has been assigned for the position of the new assistant coach for Galatasaray, along side of another living legend, Gheorghe Hagi.

Tugay refused to become the head coach until the end of the season, saying it would be wrong to accept the position for the head coach right after the sacking of Hagi.

In 2004, Taffarel rejoined Galatasaray as goalkeeper coach ( under former teammate Gheorghe Hagi ), returning to the club for the 2011 – 12 season, again with Fatih Terim as manager.

After performing memorably during the 1994 World Cup, Hagi was signed by FC Barcelona.

However after winning the trophy, where Hagi scored the only goal of the game, Steaua did not want to release him back to Sportul Studențesc and retained him.

Hagi and Steaua were the champions of Romania in 1987, 1988 and 1989 and as well as winning the Romania Cup in 1987, 1988 and 1989.

Hagi started the season 1992 – 1993 with Brescia Calcio but in the first season the club was relegated to Serie B ; in the next season Hagi helped Brescia Calcio win the Italian Serie B and get promoted to Serie A.

Hagi and manager Fatih Terim built a team that would win four consecutive league titles.

Over the years, Galatasaray, led by Hagi, managed to win the UEFA Cup after defeating Arsenal in the finals.

In 2000, at the age of 35, Hagi had the best days of his career winning every possible trophy with Galatasaray.

Hagi led the Romanian team to its best ever international performance at the 1994 World Cup, where the team reached the quarterfinals before Sweden ended their run after winning the penalty shoot-out.

Hagi scored three times in the tournament, including a memorable goal in their 3 – 2 surprise defeat of South American powerhouse and previous runners-up Argentina.

Hagi retired from professional football in 2001, age 36, in a game called " Gala Hagi " on 24 April.

Actor portraying Nikki Danjō, a villain from the kabuki play Sendai Hagi.

In the Japanese tea ceremony, the pottery items used are often rustic and simple-looking, e. g. Hagi ware, with shapes that are not quite symmetrical, and colors or textures that appear to emphasize an unrefined or simple style.