Romanian legend Florin Raducioiu has admitted that he regrets the harsh words he used to criticise the decision to award the Romanian Footballer of the Year award to Radu Dragusin.

Although he is just 22 years of age, Dragusin is seen by many back in his home country as the next potential breakout star to emerge from Romanian football.

The centre-back is extremely mature and composed for his age and is already one of the leaders at the back for the national side and is set to play a vital role in the Eastern European nation's quest to deliver a good showing in the Euros next summer.

It perhaps did not come as a surprise when Dragusin was named Romania's Player of the Year but the decision did not sit well with Raducioiu.

Photo by @angela_somova1205 Radu Dragusin receives a worthy apology The 54-year-old has now said that he regrets the words he used at the time but insisted that he stands by his opinion, remarking that the award should have gone to an attacking player rather than the Tottenham man.

The former Espanyol star told Orange Sport: "It was not a personal thing. It was just my reaction, maybe a bit harsh, I admit, with that word 'shepherd'. I think I made a mistake there, I apologise, and actually, I did it a few months ago.

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"I understand that this Tottenham transfer took off, but nothing justified it and no one should reward him as the best player in Romania. I believe that Romania's best player must be a show player, a player who conveys emotion to me, which Dragusin did not do. That was it, nothing personal."

Spurs Web Opinion

I disagree with the notion that these sorts of awards should only go to attacking players. Football understandably has this bias for attackers over defenders when it comes to adjudicating these big awards since goals are what makes the game exciting.

However, as the old adage goes, while strikers might win you matches, your defence tends to win you titles, which is why centre-backs also deserve their due.

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