Anecdotes from the Soccer World Cup: Why did the Romanians dye themselves blonde in France 1998?

During three World Cups consecutive (Italy 1990, USA 1994 and France 1998), the Romanian team sang hymn after hymn with the best in the world. Some media even referred to the selection as The Golden Generation. For this streak and over time one more reason was added.

That era of Romanian football was led by the captain Gheorghe Hagi, one of only 15 players in history to have played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. His compatriots called him the ‘Maradona of the Carpathians’ (the Carpathians are a mountainous system in Central Europe).

What song will Shakira sing at the Qatar 2022 World Cup?

Aside from Hagi, the Romania team of the 1990s also included a legion of hallowed names for the nation on the Balkans. That’s because no team since then has come close to making Romanians as happy as they have. Romania have not traveled to a World Cup since 1998.

That team from France ’98 reached the round of 16 before being eliminated by the Croatian team. But that was not the most iconic moment of that tournament, but the one that happened five days before. After triumphing over Colombia and England, and with one group game to go, feeling confident, the entire team bleached their hair an almost platinum blonde.

Bring the Qatar 2022 World Cup party to your television with these streaming contents

It all came after the team tried to convince their coach, Anghel Iordanescu, to shave their heads if they won. For their part, the team offered to dye their hair.

“In a strategy meeting two days before our first game against Colombia, we asked Mr. Iordanescu if he would be willing to shave his head if we qualified after two games,” former international Andrian Ilie recounted several years later. “And when he agreed, we decided that if he really did it, we’d dye ours too. But first we had to beat Colombia and England.”

World Cup Qatar 2022: Dua Lipa clarifies that he will not sing at the opening ceremony

Indeed, they beat Colombia and then the selection of the Three Lions. “After beating England, we had the manager cut his hair,” adds IIe. “Then it was our turn to keep our promise. At first some players said they wouldn’t do it, but eventually we all agreed that we would do it as a team.”

The local groomers did the job and it went so well that they were not recognized upon returning to the hotel or by the commentators at their next match. The Romanians lost to Croatia.

Of course, the intention of doing something to her hair was meant to inspire a sense of team spirit, but if you ask the then national team coach, it rather aroused a completely different kind of spirit. “We have angered God,” Iordănescu told reporters before being knocked out by Croatia.

The operation was so secret that the players did not even tell their families. “We did it after our last training session. Nobody saw us,” says Ilie. “The people at the hotel thought we were a different team when we came back. Our families were completely shocked.” (AND)