Gheorghe Hagi is the greatest ever footballer to come from Romania, and in 1994 he led his nation to the quarter-finals of a World Cup.
Beating hosts USA and Colombia in the group stages, Romania then dispatched Argentina 3-2 in the last 16, with Hagi scoring the winning goal. With Sweden standing between them and a place in the semi-finals, the eastern Europeans were confident.
While they lost on penalties, following a 2-2 draw after extra time, Hagi reveals he had greater ambitions than just reaching the final four, though.
"I went to the US with one thought in my mind: I wanted to win the World Cup," Hagi tells FourFourTwo. "That’s what I dreamed of and I tried to pass my desire on to the whole group. We were in form and playing well – young, but more experienced than in 1990.
"Everyone in Romania wanted to conquer America. After the fall of communism, we wanted to go to the free world. You can go a long way with sport, just as Romania did in gymnastics and tennis. It was football’s turn to go and conquer. We played very well and were Romania’s ambassadors."
Reminiscing on the tournament, Hagi also talks about the incredible finish he produced against Colombia in the group stages.
Standing on the left-wing, Hagi received the ball around 30 yards from goal and shaped up to cross. Instead, the playmaker struck a bullet that flew over Oscar Cordoba in the Colombia goal, shocking all 91,000 people crammed into Los Angeles' Rose Bowl stadium.
"It was the most difficult goal to score," Hagi says in reference to the strike. "It takes talent, personality, inspiration, power, decision and risk – all of those things. You’re not afraid to try when you feel that you’re good and fit. It took preparation, and we prepared for it.
"We knew our opponents. Bogdan Stelea, our goalkeeper, can tell you about that – what happened in the game against Colombia also happened to him two days before the match, when we were training.
"We knew the positioning of the goalkeeper and we practised with Stelea coming out. I also scored from the halfway line for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, just to keep them both happy!"
Now the manager of a Romanian side, Farul Constanta, Hagi uses his own experience to inspire his players.
"I always tell my players: believe in what you’re doing and have courage. If there’s no courage, you can’t risk. I always took a look at the keeper to see his position. My thought was always to shoot from long range, ever since I was a kid.
"My first coach told me to shoot as much as I could, so I opted to shoot rather than lose the ball many times in my career. I scored incredible goals thanks to that sense I had. I scored more than 300 goals in my career and around 70 per cent of them were from outside the box."
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Hagi also explains why the entire Romanian squad bleached their hair during the 1998 World Cup.
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