Hagi's high hopes for Romania's youth

As Romania's players prepare for the rare opportunity of contesting a UEFA European Under-19 Championship on home soil, Gheorghe Hagi is urging the class of 2011 to seize the chance with both hands.

A legend in his homeland and far beyond, Hagi won 125 caps for Romania's senior side but was also an inspirational figure at youth level and a key part of the team that reached the U18 finals in England in 1983 – the same year he made his full international debut.

"When I was 18, I felt fantastic enthusiasm and tremendous joy for playing," the 46-year-old said. "For a year, I played for both the national youth team and in the first division for Farul Constanţa, and I was also called up by Romania's senior team. At 18 I played football all the time and I did it with incredible passion."

The former playmaker now places huge significance on his youthful experiences, citing them as central to his later success. "Playing youth football for Romania prepared me for the future, for my whole career," he explained. "I learned how to be a responsible person, to have the maximum commitment and the best possible achievements on the pitch, because these are the first and most important 'musts' at international level."

While Hagi has little hesitation in selecting his most memorable opponent at junior level – Yugoslavia schemer Dragan Stojković – his favourite moments are harder to pin down. "Every international match I played represented the most important experience for me at the time," he said. "Those four years, particularly the tournament in England, were an extraordinarily important experience at both a professional and a human level. Those years formed and developed me as a player."

Romania have never featured in a U19 finals before yet they qualified for the UEFA European U17 Championship in Serbia earlier this year and Hagi knows only too well how invaluable an undertaking this summer could be. "It's so important for players to participate in these finals; it's only in events like these that you gain plenty of international experience by playing against talented players from other countries and against strong national teams with different styles. Take it from me, all these aspects – and more – are very important for a career at senior level."

As for his advice to today's young players, Hagi defers to his first coach at underage level, Iosif Bukossy. When the then prodigy asked if he would play for the senior side, Bukossy replied: "It will be easy for you to reach the heights because you are very talented. But it will be much harder to stay there if you don't have motivation, ambition and the desire to make sacrifices. These are the things that make the difference between careers and between people."

Hagi's own career went on to feature spells at clubs such as FC Steaua Bucureşti, Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona and Galatasaray AŞ, with trophies and medals coming at almost every turn. Looking back, he underlines his "talent, self-confidence, courage and personal ambition" as the overriding factors in his rapid rise and speedy elevation into the national squad – and he believes the criteria for success remain the same today.

"Four words are essential for a player in the national team, and not only when he plays for the first time: honour, pride, fulfilment, responsibility," he said, adding that the key ingredients for the current generation will be "individual skill, technique, personality, intelligence – and the joy of playing football. At a finals, the most important thing is that a player plays with courage and confidence and gives his best from the first minute to the last in order to win."