Cătălin Hîldan

Cătălin George Hîldan (3 February 1976 – 5 October 2000) was a Romanian association football midfielder who played for FC Dinamo București and the Romanian national team. In 2006, he was named one of the 100 Greatest Romanians in a nationwide poll.

Cătălin Hîldan
Personal information
Full name Cătălin George Hîldan
Date of birth (1976-02-03)3 February 1976
Place of birth Brănești, Ilfov, Romania
Date of death 5 October 2000(2000-10-05) (aged 24)
Place of death Oltenița, Romania
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1986–1994 Dinamo București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–2000 Dinamo București 138 (6)
1995–1996 → Oţelul Târgovişte (loan) 13 (1)
Total 151 (7)
National team
1999–2000 Romania 8 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Background
Dinamo fans paying homage to Cătălin Hîldan in 2005

Hîldan first came into contact with sports at the age of eight at the rugby club Olimpia together with his older brother Cristi. Two years later, in the summer of 1986, he joined Dinamo București along with Florentin Petre, Mihai Tararache and others. His first match for Dinamo was on 2 October 1994 in a match against rivals Steaua Bucharest.

After a couple of months he was loaned to Târgovişte, where he helped the team win promotion to the second division and then to the first division. He was recalled to Dinamo by coach Cornel Dinu. In a couple of years he became the team's captain. In the 1999–2000 season, Dinamo defeated Steaua 3–2, and won the league title for the first time in nine years.

He was in the Romanian national team for Euro 2000, but did not play in the tournament. He played a total of eight games for the national team, and scored one goal;[1] that goal was also the 900th goal in Romania's national team history (4 February 2000, România – Georgia 1–1).

Death

He died on 5 October 2000, at a friendly match between Dinamo and FC Oltenița. In the 74th minute of the game, Cătălin had a cardiac arrest, and fell to the ground. The north stand of the Dinamo Stadium is named "Peluza Cătălin Hîldan" (Cătălin Hîldan Stand), in his honour. He is nicknamed "The only captain" by Dinamo fans.

Honours

Club
Oţelul Târgovişte
Dinamo București

References
  1. Catalin Haldan. soccernet.com (13 July 2000)
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