The Bulgarian "Golden Ball" Hristo Stoichkov is one of the global megastars who have confirmed their participation in the jubilee Match of the Golden Generation of Romanian football, announced one of the organizers Gheorghe Popescu, reported Sportal.
On May 25, 2024, the former footballers from the Golden Generation of Romanian football will say goodbye to the fans in a gala match that will be held at the "Arena Nacional" in Bucharest.
Against the Romanian national team, a collective formation of world stars will come out, the final composition of which is still not clear.
The match will start at 20:30 and the stars of the glorious period of the Romanian national team, who wrote history in the period 1994-1998, headed by names such as Gheorghe Hadji, Gheorghe Popescu, Dan Petrescu and Ilie Dumitrescu will be able to be seen " ;at work" back on the field.
The event marks 30 years since the best performance achieved by the Romanian national team. Then they came close to participating in the semi-finals of the '94 World Cup. Gica Popescu also explained which world legends will participate in this match. The former Barcelona player revealed some of the "classics" of football. News about the match in question, as well as any information, can be found on the special Facebook page dedicated to the event - Generația de Aur.
"We are extremely happy that, without announcing the names of the team of international stars we will be playing against on May 25, 42,000 tickets have already been sold. I think this is a record for an event like this. Today we can announce the names of several people who have already confirmed their participation, including Nuno Gómez, Christian Panucci, Christian Karembjo, Hristo Stoichkov, Rivaldo. So far we have two “Golden Balls” and we have more names to announce. As for Rivaldo and Stoichkov, I hope they put on some extra pounds because a few weeks ago Rivaldo looked even better than when he was playing. "Hristo has extra pounds, so that's good, but Rivaldo will be a problem for me," commented Gica Popescu to the website flashscore.ro and keeps laughing.
"We didn't invite Kenneth Andersson (the author of the equalizing goal for Sweden and sent the match with Romania to extra time) because we risked the whole stadium booing us".
Portuguese specialist Jose Mourinho will lead the star-studded team in this exhibition match. According to Popescu, this is 90% certain, but the organizers will hold another final call in a few weeks in London. The Romanian team is clear and includes all stars and will be coached by Angel Jordanescu and Gabi Balint.
And in order not to seem completely surrendered, the Romanian veterans are already thinking about how to prepare. "From April 20 or 25, we will try to get moving, that is, train at the Arc de Triomphe stadium, which is one month before the match. I hope that in these pursuits we will not make many sacrifices, because we are no longer with the engines of 20 years ago. To be honest, I would like to play in the middle because if I'm going to be in defense there will be big spaces and I don't have the physical condition to run after Rivaldo or Nuno Gomes, who is in great physical shape. But we will have a squad of 24-26 players, so there will be changes. And many of my former colleagues from the national team have lost weight recently, which is proof that they want to look good at this event," Popescu stressed.
"I am glad that there is a lot of interest in this match, but I have already seen how difficult it is to play at 55-60 years old. Age forgives no one. We were such a beautiful and extraordinary generation, I think the world will not laugh at us, but it is a moment that we can make it this farewell match. I don't know about the others, but after May 25th, I won't play anymore," says Gheorghe Popescu, born in 1967 in Calafat.