The Romanian football in mourning
On the 5th of October 2000, incredible news has shaken the world of the Romanian football: Dinamo's young football player, Catalin Hildan, died. The tragedy took place, totally unexpected, during a football match that Dinamo had played in Oltenita, with the local, Navol team. In the 75th minute, while the ball was being played somewhere at the edge of the field, Hildan fell down unexpectedly, surprising everyone present. The player had only had time to tell Bogdan Onut, his closest teammate, "i'm dizzy, I'm feeling sick". With his last powers, Catalin tried to get up and said "I'm dieing" and then he fell again. Dinamo's doctor, Mircea Lucaciu, intervened immediately bur all his efforts to make Haldan wake up were useless. The game stopped and the football player had been transported immediately to Oltenita hospital. Around 17:45 the doctors said Hildan had died.
Catalin's father was the most affected by the tragic death of his son. When finding the news, he had a nervous breakdown. A terrible reaction had also had Ionut Lupescu, who was in Italy at that moment, with the national team. Cornel Dinu, the coach, the man who trusted Catalin a lot, and who made him the capitan of the red dogs, had cried too. Hildan was considered Dinu's "child", who had lived on the 5th of October 2000, "The worst day in the history of the Stefan cel Mare football".
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Around 7 o'clock on the 6th of October 2000, the first groups of suporters came at the stadium. In the afternoon, hundreds of fans waited, in a ravishing silence, for Haldan's body to be brought. After the 30 minutes ceremony, the fans started to shout "You remain a "dog" even after death", "We will always love you ", "Haldan, the last captain". His T-shirt and his scarf were put in the coffin. Then the access gate had been opened towards the stadium, thus the ones present might accompany the car transporting the coffin, until it exited the Dinamo Complex. |
| The number 11 T-shirt had been retrieved forever. Almost 10.000 fans hurt by the dissappearance of THE ONLY CAPTAIN, accomapanied Catalin for the last time, on a cold October weather. He had been burried on an ex-football field. Catalin has lived on a football stadium, has died on a staium and he will always rest on an ex-football field. At 13:00 o'clock, Catalin's Dinamo mates took the coffin on their shoulders and put it on the hearse, while the funerary cortege had started. The route home-church-cemetery was transformed in a river of tears, colored in red, white and black. At the entrance of cemetery, Dinamo's fans waited for Catalin with the scarfs in the air and crying. After his burrial, the fans started to shout: "We will always love you" - "Catalin Haldan the only captain" - "Let me die now/Die on a stadium/ This is where I've always been/ Close to my team". The fans remained over 45 minutes near him. |  |
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For Catalin Hildan, DINAMO BUCURESTI represented the football. He was born on the 3rd of February 1976, in Vitan. As a child, he played football all day long, on Olimpia stadium, located near his home. Haldan started playing football at the age of 11, passing through all the stages of success, being national junior champion with Dinamo. The bulldog, as his supporters call him, has debuted at DINAMO on the 2nd of October 1994, in the steaua-DINAMO game 2-0, replacing Demollari.After 3 games in the Romanian first devision, Remus Vlad lent him to Targoviste, where he promoted from the C series, to B and from B to A. Cornel Dinu watched him permanently and he brought him back to DINAMO. He was present in 138 games in DIVIZIA A, and 6 goals. He participated at the final tour of the European Championships in 1998 and he was part of the Romania's team at EURO 2000. He had 8 selections in the national team and he scored the 900 goal in the history of Romania's first team. |
Cornel Dinu: "The greates <dog> has left. Haldan was the last <dog to the death>."I can't see Catalin dead."
Florentin Petre: "Why did God have to take near Him such an extraordinary man, that didn't upset anyone? I still believe I'm dreaming. A man with such a big heart and who had always told the truth can't leave us. But this is how life is sometimes, it takes the good ones."
Stefan Preda: "I sat near him half an hour at the Oltenita hospital and I couldn't belive that he had died. Me and Giani tried to wake him up: "Catalin, come on, we are having a game to play. You are strong, wake up. Nevertheless, he couldn't do it. He died with Dinamo's T-shirt on him."
Florin Prunea: "When Catalin came to the team I took him near me, because he seemed like an extraordinary kid. In the following years he proved to be so. I don't know, I wonder how is it possible that such a player die? In addition, a professional one, too. Oh my God, what a kid died..."
CATALIN HALDAN will always remain in our hearts as the UNIQUE CAPITAN.
REST IN PEACE
WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU
