Cătălin Hîldan


Cătălin George Hîldan was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Club career

Hîldan was born on 3 February 1976 in Brănești, Ilfov, Romania. He first came into contact with sports at the age of eight at the rugby club Olimpia together with his older brother Cristian. 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. 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 (Romania)|derby] against Steaua București that ended with a 2–0 loss. 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.
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, under the guidance of Dinu, Hîldan played 29 league games in which he scored one goal, helping Dinamo win the title. That was the first championship earned by the club in nine years, and was mathematically won after a 3–2 victory against Steaua. In the same season, he scored the second goal of the 2–0 victory in the 2000 [Cupa României final|Cupa României final] against Universitatea Craiova. On 1 October 2000, Hîldan made his last Divizia A appearance in a 3–2 home loss to Petrolul Ploiești, totaling 138 matches with six goals in Divizia A and 11 matches in European competitions.

International career

Hîldan was part of Romania's under-21 side that managed a first-ever 1998 [UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification|qualification] to a European Championship in 1998, which Romania subsequently hosted. In the final tournament that was composed of eight teams, coach Victor Pițurcă used him in all three games which were losses to Netherlands, Germany and Russia, as they finished in last place.
Hîldan played eight friendly games and scored one goal for Romania, making his debut on 3 March 1999 when coach Pițurcă introduced him in the 85th minute to replace Gheorghe Popescu in a 2–0 victory against Estonia. He scored his only goal for the national team in a 1–1 draw against Georgia. He played his last game on 3 June 2000 in a 2–1 win over Greece. Hîldan was selected by coach Emerich Jenei to be part of Romania's squad in the Euro 2000 final tournament, but did not play in any games there.

International goals

#DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
14 February 2000Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus41–11–1Friendly match

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. Before his death he was nicknamed "The only captain" by Dinamo's fans, a nickname that became more popular after his death. His number, 11, was retired by Dinamo in his honor and a statue of him was displayed within the Dinamo Stadium. The north stand of the stadium is named "Peluza Cătălin Hîldan", in his honor, and the Stadionul Cătălin Hîldan from his native Brănești is also named after him. In 2006, he was posthumously named one of the 100 Greatest Romanians in a nationwide poll. A book about him was written by Ioan Chilom, titled Unicul căpitan. Cătălin Hîldan, câine până la moarte ''''.

Honours

Oțelul Târgoviște
Dinamo București