Gabriel Popescu

Club

International

Score and result list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Popescu goal.

From 1993 to 2002, Popescu was consistently featured for Romania's under-21 and B sides. Popescu played 15 matches and scored once for Romania, making his debut on 14 August 1996 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 63rd minute to replace Ovidiu Stîngă in a 2–0 friendly win over Israel. Subsequently, he played four matches during the successful 1998 World Cup qualifiers. Popescu played three matches under Iordănescu in the final tournament, with the first two being victories against Colombia and England in the group stage. Those victories secured the mathematical qualification before the last group match against Tunisia. To celebrate, the team dyed their hair blonde and showed up on the pitch with their new look. The campaign ended as they were defeated 1–0 by Croatia in the round of 16 after Davor Šuker scored from a penalty that was awarded after Popescu fouled Aljoša Asanović.

In 2011, Popescu briefly served as head coach at Liga I club Sportul Studențesc.

Electroputere Craiova and Universitatea Craiova

Popescu was born on 25 December 1973 in Craiova, Romania. He began playing football at Electroputere Craiova, making his Divizia A debut on 12 September 1992 under coach Marian Bondrea in a 2–0 away loss to Rapid București. He also made his debut in European competitions, playing in a 4–0 loss to Panathinaikos in the first round of the 1992–93 UEFA Cup. In the middle of the 1994–95 season, Popescu joined neighboring club Universitatea. There, he scored a career-best seven goals during the 1996–97 season.

Career in Spain

Midway through the 1997–98 season, Popescu was transferred from "U" Craiova to Salamanca for a €1.2 million fee. He made his La Liga debut on 31 January 1998 under coach Txetxu Rojo in a 1–0 loss to Athletic Bilbao. Popescu scored his first goal on 22 February in a 3–1 victory against Mérida and then on 21 March he netted a hat-trick in a 5–4 win over Atlético Madrid. He was a colleague of fellow Romanian Bogdan Stelea, and during that time the team was nicknamed "Salamanca Rumana", because Ovidiu Stîngă, Lucian Marinescu and Cătălin Munteanu also played for the club around that period. In the summer of 1998, Valencia acquired Popescu for a €4.2 million transfer fee. He was teammates there with compatriots Adrian Ilie, Dennis Șerban and Sabin Ilie. Popescu played 25 league matches during the 1998–99 season, scoring a single goal in a 2–2 draw against Celta Vigo. Furthermore, he played six…