Dan Alexa (born 28 October 1979) is a Romanian professional football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, currently in charge of

Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

club Tunari.

Club career

Early career

Although born in

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

, 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

After several years with short spells at Fulgeru Bragadiru and Universitatea Craiova, Alexa got his big chance as

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

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

His consequent move to

Beijing Hyundai Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd. is an automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Shunyi, Beijing, China, and a joint-venture between BAIC Motor and Hyundai Motor Company. Established in 2002, it manufactures in Shunyi District, a satell ...

saw him leave Romania for two years. In a friendly match against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

he was selected man of the match.

Dinamo București

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

Politehnica Timișoara

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. 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 Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

and kept

Poli DNA polymerase iota is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''POLI'' gene. It is found in higher eukaryotes, and is believed to have arisen from a gene duplication from Pol η. Pol ι, is a Y family polymerase that is involved in transl ...

in the battle for the title, however Poli finished 5th, losing their last three matches.

Rapid București

On 4 June 2011, the former captain of Politehnica Timișoara signed a two-year contract with

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

following the relegation of Poli.

Anorthosis Famagusta

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.

International career

Alexa was first called up by the

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

team in 2004. Later in 2010, he was called up for a friendly match against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

after a six-year absence. Alexa scored his first goals for

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in a 2–2 draw against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

at Cyprus International Cup 2011. However, Romania were eliminated from the tournament, after losing on penalty kicks 4–2.

Managerial career

After he ended his playing career, Alexa became a manager. His first job was at

ACS Poli Timișoara Asociația Club Sportiv Poli Timișoara (), commonly known as ACS Poli Timișoara, Poli Timișoara or simply ACS Poli, was a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Timișoara, Timiș County. The team was founded in 2012, the ye ...

, in March 2014. Since 23 August 2017 he was manager of

Dunărea Călărași Dunărea may refer to: * Dunărea, the Romanian name for the river Danube in Central Europe * Dunărea (river), a tributary of the Danube in Constanța County, Romania * Dunărea, a village in the commune Seimeni, Constanța County, Romania See a ...

until summer of 2019. Then he was named manager of

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spe ...

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Alexa goal''.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

UM Timișoara *

Divizia C The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

: 1998–99 Rocar București *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

runner-up: 2000–01 Dinamo București *

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

: 2003–04 *

: 2002–03, 2003–04 Politehnica Timișoara *

runner-up: 2006–07, 2008–09

Coach

ACS Poli Timișoara *

: 2014–15 Rapid București *

: 2015–16 Dunărea Călărași *

: 2017–18 CSM Reșița *

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

: 2021–22 Tunari *

: 2024–25

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexa, Dan 1979 births People from Caransebeș Living people Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders CSP UM Timișoara players AFC Rocar București players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FC U Craiova 1948 players FC Dinamo București players Beijing Guoan F.C. players FC Rapid București players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Liga I players Liga I managers Liga II players Liga II managers Liga III players Cypriot First Division players Chinese Super League players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in China Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Romanian football managers ACS Poli Timișoara managers ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș managers CS Concordia Chiajna managers FC Dunărea Călărași managers FC Astra Giurgiu managers FC Rapid București managers SSU Politehnica Timișoara managers CSM Reșița managers FC Brașov (2021) managers FC Botoșani managers CS Tunari managers Footballers from Caraș-Severin County