Dan Alexa (born 28 October 1979) is a Romanian football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder, currently in charge of Liga II club Tunari.

Dan Alexa
Alexa in 2004
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-10-28) 28 October 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Caransebeș, Romania
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Tunari (head coach)
Youth career
CSȘ Caransebeș
LPS Banatul Timișoara
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998 UM Timișoara 10 (2)
1999–2001 Rocar București 45 (2)
2001 Fulgerul Bragadiru 4 (0)
2002 Universitatea Craiova 15 (0)
2002–2004 Dinamo București 47 (1)
2004–2005 Beijing Hyundai 40 (0)
2006 Dinamo București 13 (1)
2006–2011 Politehnica Timișoara 126 (5)
2011–2012 Rapid București 25 (3)
2012–2014 Anorthosis Famagusta 40 (4)
2017 Viitorul Caransebeș 1 (0)
Total 366 (18)
International career
2000 Romania U21 1 (0)
2004–2011 Romania 6 (2)
Managerial career
2014–2015 ACS Poli Timișoara
2015–2016 Rapid București
2016 ASA Târgu Mureș
2016–2017 Concordia Chiajna
2017–2019 Dunărea Călărași
2019 Astra Giurgiu
2020 Rapid București
2020–2021 ASU Politehnica Timișoara
2021–2022 CSM Reșița
2022–2023 FC Brașov
2023 Botoșani
2024– Tunari
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Early career

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Although born in Banat, Alexa was considered disposable while at UM Timișoara in 1998, and he moved to Rocar București where he helped his side reach the 2000–01 Romanian Cup final.

Dinamo București

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After several years with short spells at FC Timișoara and Universitatea Craiova, Alexa got his big chance as Dinamo București decided to transfer him. His performances were of a high caliber throughout the two seasons he spent there, but he also got a reputation for being an extremely aggressive player. In two years, he scored 1 goal in 47 appearances.

Beijing Hyundai

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His consequent move to Beijing Hyundai saw him leave Romania for two years. In a friendly match against Real Madrid he was selected man of the match.[1]

Dinamo București

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He returned to Dinamo in 2006 just for a few months playing 13 matches, scoring one goal.

Politehnica Timișoara

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In the summer of the same year, Politehnica boss Marian Iancu decided to bring Alexa – by then, a real "persona non-grata" in Timișoara, due to his pledge of loyalty to Dinamo – back to the city where he started his career, together with teammate Ştefan Grigorie.[2] The fans protested at Alexa's arrival in Timișoara through several banners and chants, but the club's management remained unimpressed. Alexa himself stated that he had made those statements out of necessity and that he will do all he can to prove to the fans that he is a real professional. A few months after his arrival, Alexa became the captain of Poli. He is nicknamed "the surgeon" because he inflicted many injuries requiring surgery to opposing players. On 19 April 2010, he scored the equaliser goal in the 98th minute against CFR Cluj and kept Poli in the battle for the title, however Poli finished 5th, losing their last three matches.

Rapid București

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On 4 June 2011, the former captain of Politehnica Timișoara signed a two-year contract with Rapid București following the relegation of Poli.[3]

Anorthosis Famagusta

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On 24 June 2012, Dan Alexa signed with the Cyprus First Division football club, Anorthosis Famagusta, on a free transfer. He signed a reported €250,000/yr contract with the club.[4]

International career

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Alexa was first called up by the national team in 2004. Later in 2010, he was called up for a friendly match against Italy after a six-year absence.[5] Alexa scored his first goals for Romania in a 2–2 draw against Ukraine at Cyprus International Cup 2011.[6] However, Romania were eliminated from the tournament, after losing on penalty kicks 4–2.

Managerial career

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After he ended his playing career, Alexa became a manager. His first job was at ACS Poli Timișoara, in March 2014. Since 23 August 2017 he was manager of Dunărea Călărași until summer of 2019. Then he was named manager of Astra Giurgiu.

Career statistics

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Romania
Year Apps Goals
2004 1 0
2005 0 0
2006 0 0
2007 0 0
2008 0 0
2009 0 0
2010 1 0
2011 4 2
Total 6 2
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 8 February 2011 Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni, Cyprus   Ukraine 1–2 2–2 Friendly
2 8 February 2011 Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni, Cyprus   Ukraine 2–2 2–2 Friendly

Managerial statistics

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As of 27 April 2024[7]
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
  ACS Poli Timișoara 17 March 2014 22 August 2015 48 21 14 13 57 41 +16 043.75
  Rapid București 27 August 2015 20 July 2016 34 22 7 5 55 21 +34 064.71
  ASA Târgu Mureș 7 August 2016 22 December 2016 23 8 3 12 32 38 −6 034.78
  Concordia Chiajna 23 December 2016 18 July 2017 20 6 6 8 20 25 −5 030.00
  Dunărea Călărași 22 August 2017 12 June 2019 76 36 21 19 95 63 +32 047.37
  Astra Giurgiu 13 June 2019 10 October 2019 13 5 4 4 16 14 +2 038.46
  Rapid București 11 March 2020 6 August 2020 5 1 3 1 4 4 +0 020.00
  ASU Politehnica Timișoara 11 November 2020 17 June 2021 19 6 6 7 20 24 −4 031.58
  CSM Reșița 30 June 2021 10 June 2022 32 25 6 1 91 16 +75 078.13
  FC Brașov 23 June 2022 8 August 2023 27 13 7 7 58 31 +27 048.15
  Botoșani 1 September 2023 2 November 2023 9 0 3 6 10 24 −14 000.00
  Tunari 18 March 2024 present 6 1 1 4 8 12 −4 016.67
Total 312 144 81 87 466 313 +153 046.15

Honours

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Player

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UM Timișoara

Rocar București

Dinamo București

Politehnica Timișoara

Coach

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ACS Poli Timișoara

Rapid București

Dunărea Călărași

CSM Reșița

References

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  1. ^ "Comentand la rece etapa a 27-a: Cine sunt premiantii, cine sunt perdantii". Cronica Română. 17 May 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
  2. ^ "Pe minus" [On minus] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 22 August 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Alexa and Surdu signed with Rapid". Gazeta Sporturilor. 4 June 2011.
  4. ^ "Rapid a pierdut un super jucator". Sport.ro. 24 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Alexa returns to national team". Analog TV. 18 November 2010.
  6. ^ "Romania – Ukraine 2–2". Gazeta Sporturilor. 8 February 2011.
  7. ^ "Nou antrenor la Dunărea. Dan Alexa a semnat contract pe un an cu gruparea de pe malul Borcei" (in Romanian). adevarul.ro. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
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