Gica Popescu is the role model of the Romanian footballer
Kolkata: He is the first ever Romanian footballer to ply his trade in the history of I League this season. Shillong Lajong defender Dan Gelu Ignat will have the responsibility to stop Jeje Lalpekhlua and Balwant Singh from scoring against them in the I League match against Mohun Bagan at Rabindra Sarobar stadium.
Despite the deplorable defeat against Bengaluru FC in their opening game of the competition, Dan hardly allowed Sunil Chhetri to trouble his defense. His clever play and staunching tackles caught the eyes of everyone against the defending champions.
Most of Dan’s career has been in his native Romania, though he most recently played for Al-Ramtha and That Ras in the Jordan Premier League. The right-footed central defender started his youth football with SCF Gica Popescu in Romania and has played for various clubs in that country between 2004 and 2014 in Liga 1 and Liga 2 of the Romanian Football League.
One would be surprised to hear that Gheorghe Hagi regarded as “The Maradona of the Carpathians” is not a role model of Dan.”Gheorghe Hagi has been the greatest player ever from Romania but my idol is Gica Popescu who was also a great player for my country and also played for FC Barcelona. I respect Hagi a lot but being a defender, Popescu is my hero.”, he added, “But I also played for Hagi as he has a club there in Romania.”
Dan became a bit crestfallen when the question was asked about the torrid stature of Romanian football these days, he said, “The problem is money. Only one team has money but the others are struggling. And that has been the main issue.”
The Roman defender, playing in his first season in Indian football hasn’t got enough idea about football in these parts. He claimed, “Football is same in anywhere in the world. Adjustment is crucial. More than being individual, the team is important. If my team plays good football, then Mohun Bagan won’t be a problem.”
Dan will pair with Chinglensana Singh Konsham in the central defence against Mohun Bagan on Friday.