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Cătălin Hîldan
Romanian footballer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cătălin George Hîldan (3 February 1976 – 5 October 2000) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
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Club career
Summarize
Perspective
Hîldan was born on 3 February 1976 in Brănești, Ilfov, Romania.[1] He first came into contact with sports at the age of eight at the rugby club Olimpia together with his older brother Cristian.[2] Two years later, in the summer of 1986, he joined football club Dinamo București where he worked with coach Ionuț Chirilă, playing alongside Florentin Petre, Mihai Tararache and others.[2] His first senior match for Dinamo was on 2 October 1994 when coach Ion Moldovan sent him in the 39th minute to replace Sulejman Demollari in a Divizia A derby against Steaua București that ended with a 2–0 loss.[1][3] After a couple of months he was loaned to Oțelul Târgoviște in the third league, where Hîldan helped the team win promotion to the second division and then to the first.[1][2]
He was recalled to Dinamo by coach Cornel Dinu.[2][4] In a couple of years he became the team's captain.[5][6] In the 1999–2000 season, under the guidance of Dinu, Hîldan played 29 league games in which he scored one goal, helping Dinamo win the title.[1][7] That was the first championship earned by the club in nine years, and was mathematically won after a 3–2 victory against Steaua.[1][8] In the same season, he scored the second goal of the 2–0 victory in the Cupa României final against Universitatea Craiova.[1][9] On 1 October 2000, Hîldan made his last Divizia A appearance in a 3–2 home loss to Petrolul Ploiești, having a total of 138 matches with six goals in Divizia A, and also totaling 11 matches without scoring in European competitions.[1]
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International career
Hîldan played eight friendly games and scored one goal for Romania, making his debut on 3 March 1999 when coach Victor Pițurcă introduced him in the 85th minute to replace Gheorghe Popescu in a friendly that ended with a 2–0 victory against Estonia.[10][11] He scored his only goal for the national team in a 1–1 friendly draw against Georgia.[10] He played his last game on 3 June 2000 in a 2–1 victory against Greece.[10] Hîldan was selected by coach Pițurcă to be part of Romania's squad in the Euro 2000 final tournament, but did not play.[2][12]
International goals
- Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hîldan goal.[10]
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Death
Hîldan died on 5 October 2000, while playing in a friendly match between Dinamo and Șantierul Naval Oltenița, after having a stroke in the 74th minute of the game and fell to the ground.[2][13] Before his death he was nicknamed "The only captain" by Dinamo's fans, a nickname that became more popular after his death.[2][14][15][16][17] His number, 11, was retired by Dinamo in his honor and a statue of him was displayed within the Dinamo Stadium.[2][5][15][16] The north stand of the stadium is named "Peluza Cătălin Hîldan" (Cătălin Hîldan Stand), in his honor, and the Stadionul Cătălin Hîldan from his native Brănești is also named after him.[5][14] In 2006, he was posthumously named one of the 100 Greatest Romanians in a nationwide poll.[18] A book about him was written by Ioan Chilom, called Unicul căpitan. Cătălin Hîldan, câine până la moarte (The only captain. Cătălin Hîldan, dog until death).[19]
Honours
Oțelul Târgoviște
Dinamo București
Notes
- The statistics for the 1994–95 Divizia C season are unavailable.[1]
References
External links
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