Seventh player of the year title for Hagi

Galatasaray playmaker Gheorghe Hagi has won the Romanian Footballer of the Year award for a record seventh time. After learning of the result he described his rollercoaster 2000 as the "best year ever" – before hitting out at the press.

Hagi also collected the coveted trophy – voted for by the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper – in 1985, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1997 and 1999. This latest victory takes him clear of his brother-in-law Gheorghe Popescu, who has won the title six times.

On this occasion Hagi pipped emerging Ajax youngster Cristi Chivu, who forced Popescu into third place. The 35-year-old Maradona of the Carpathians was delighted to win the trophy again, but reflected on an eventful season with mixed feelings.

He won Galatasaray's first-ever Uefa Cup against Arsenal in May but was sent off during the final. Similarly, he guided Romania to the quarter-finals of Euro 2000 only to be dismissed against Italy.

He has also seen red this season while playing for Galatasaray in the Champions' League against Monaco.

Hagi said: "Not even I expected to win the Uefa Cup or the European Supercup and yet it all happened playing for a Turkish club."

But he did admit to being upset at criticism received in the Romanian press for his conduct during the quarter-final against Italy.

"I decided to shut up for a long time after I saw how, in the space of two weeks, my hero status suddenly turned into that of public enemy No 1," he said. "Everybody was determined to shoot me down, forgetting everything that I have done over all these years."

Hagi maintains that the incident that led to his sending off against Italy should have been a penalty and denies that he is the sort of player that would try to con referees by taking a dive. The only way to react was with dignified silence, he claimed.

"You know that for Hagi the worst enemies are liars and false people," he said. "And if you know that Hagi never lies, why not give him the benefit of the doubt in this situation?

"I preferred to be quiet and to cure my hurt soul with the good words of my close friends and my family. Without them maybe I would have been finished because, believe me, only a fool decides to fall in the area when he is clean through with only the goalkeeper to beat."

But, despite being voted Player of the Year, Hagi could not hide his disappointment at the reaction of the press in his country.

"Did you see what happened with Portugal's big stars after their scandalous semi-final match against France?" he said. "It was a clear penalty after Abel Xavier's handball but none of the Portuguese newspapers wrote anything bad about the players.

"And you must have seen Figo, the shining star of Portugal, how he was so angry that he led the protests against the referee's decision. Did anybody blame Figo? On the contrary, he was protected by the Portuguese journalists, because he is the key man in the side.

"But in Romania it isn't the same. Everybody waits for the stars to make a mistake, so that they can crucify them a minute later."

Hagi has decided to call a close to his successful playing career at the end of this season despite lucrative offers to stay on at Galatasaray. But he is intent on remaining in football in some capacity.

"A role model, a star for the younger generation, must know when it is the right time to stop and bring an end to the glory," he said. "My body tells me that it would be foolish to try and continue after the summer.

"But I will only be saying goodbye to my playing career, because I cannot definitively walk out on football. I have received a lot of proposals to coach or become a director, but I have plenty of time to decide what I will do."

Hagi has his heart set on a return to his homeland and he has been keeping tabs on the scene in Romania on television.

"What is certain is that I will return to Romania to help out with my experience," he said. "I love recording Romanian games on video and watching them at home. It is a pleasure to see honest football and amazing matches like Foresta's 5-4 away win at Dinamo.

"But there is still a lot of work to do to improve the conditions in Romania. Money is a big problem. In my opinion it is better to create a League with only 12 teams that are financially healthy, rather than having too many games and teams fighting to survive by lying to their players about payments.

"I have seen a lot of players become free agents because they didn't receive their signing-on fees, monthly payments or win bonuses from premier league clubs.

"It is not right for the players to have to pay for the unfair and often dirty affairs of some of the directors. After all, it is the players who are the ones that bring in the money."

It has been suggested that the golden age of the Romania side is coming to an end. But Hagi disagrees that his retirement will signal a return to the international footballing wilderness.

"When we beat England and qualified for the quarter-finals in Euro 2000, Hagi and Popescu were not on the pitch," he said. "So we still have a plenty of talent.

"It is just important to play more games against tough opponents to improve confidence. Then you will see how they can become another very good international team.

"I see in Adrian Ilie and Adrian Mutu the two main candidates to take over the responsibilities of the No 10 shirt. But on the condition that they work hard and never try to cheat, following my example.

"I am very happy for everything that I have done in 18 years of football," he added.

"Especially as I know that I have often given a few hours of happiness to the poor people of my country and the feeling of pride that we are all Romanians together and capable of beating the major world powers."