# Cătălin Hîldan

Cătălin George Hîldan (3 February 1976 – 5 October 2000) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

## Club career

Cătălin Hîldan 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 match for Dinamo was on 2 October 1994 when coach Ion Moldovan sent him on the field in the 39th minute to replace Sulejman Demollari in a Divizia A derby against Steaua București which ended with a 2–0 loss. After a couple of months he was loaned to Oțelul Târgoviște in the third league, where he 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 league title for the first time in nine years, which was won mathematically after a 3–2 victory against Steaua, also in the same season, he scored the second goal of the 2–0 victory in the Cupa României final against Universitatea Craiova. He played a total of 138 matches in which he scored six goals in Divizia A, also appearing in 11 matches without scoring in European competitions.

## International career

Cătălin Hîldan played 8 friendly games and scored one goal for Romania, making his debut on 3 March 1999 when coach Victor Pițurcă introduced him in the 85th minute to replace Gheorghe Popescu in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 victory against Estonia. He scored his only goal for the national team in a 1–1 against Georgia and played his last game on 3 June 2000 in a 2–1 victory against Greece. Hîldan was a part of Romania's squad at the Euro 2000 final tournament, but did not play.

### International goals

    Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hîldan goal.
List of international goals scored by Cătălin Hîldan :
| # | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 4 February 2000 | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus | 4 | Georgia | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly match |

## Death

Cătălin Hîldan died on 5 October 2000, while playing in a friendly match between Dinamo and Șantierul Naval Oltenița, 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 and his number, 11, was retired by Dinamo in his honor. The north stand of the Dinamo Stadium is named "Peluza Cătălin Hîldan" (Cătălin Hîldan Stand), in his honor, also the Stadionul Cătălin Hîldan from his native Brănești is 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, called Unicul căpitan. Cătălin Hîldan, câine până la moarte (The only captain. Cătălin Hîldan, dog until death).

## Honours

Oțelul Târgoviște
* Divizia B: 1995–96
* Divizia C: 1994–95
Dinamo București
* Divizia A: 1999–00
* Cupa României: 1999–00