Ovidiu Cornel Hanganu

Corvinul Hunedoara and Victoria București

Hanganu was born on 12 May 1970 in Ghelari, Romania. He began playing football at Corvinul Hunedoara, making his Divizia A debut on 12 October 1986 under coach Octavian Cojocaru in a 3–0 victory against Jiul Petroșani. In 1989, Hanganu joined Victoria București, where coach Florin Halagian used him in both legs of the 4–2 aggregate loss to Valencia in the first round of the 1989–90 UEFA Cup, a tie in which he scored once. Subsequently, he returned to Corvinul and became the top-scorer of the 1990–91 season with 24 goals, exceeding half of the team's total of 47. However, he was unable to help the team avoid relegation in the following season.

Dinamo București

In the 1992–93 season, Hanganu played for Dinamo București and scored 12 league goals to help them finish second. Among these were two hat-tricks against Progresul București and CSM Reșița, and another goal in a 1–1 draw against rivals Steaua București. Furthermore, he helped them get past Kuusysi Lahti in the first round of the 1992–93 Champions League. Dinamo faced Olympique Marseille in the second round, where they drew 0–0 in the first leg. During the match, Hanganu squandered several key scoring chances—most notably a one-on-one with goalkeeper Fabien Barthez—drawing harsh criticism from Dinamo official Vasile Ianul: "It ended 0–0 only because Selymes and Hanganu missed huge chances. That fool Hanganu had a golden opportunity off an impeccable cross from…

From 1989 to 1992, Hanganu was consistently featured for Romania's under-21, Olympic and B sides. Hanganu played 12 matches and scored two goals for Romania, making his debut on 23 May 1991 under coach Mircea Rădulescu in a 1–0 friendly loss to Norway. He made three appearances and scored one goal in a 4–1 away win over Cyprus in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers. During those qualifiers, he also made his last appearance for Romania in a 5–2 away loss to Czechoslovakia.

Cornel Dinu, Hanganu's former coach at the national team, described his style of play and personality as follows: "He was an introvert, very withdrawn, but as a footballer, he was a player with great driving power who relied heavily on service from his teammates. Otherwise, he went unnoticed and didn't bother anyone. I think he was dealing with inner struggles. I remember him as an opportunistic striker with a knack for scoring and an innate intuition—qualities that helped him become a top scorer."

International

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hanganu goal.