Dan Alexa recalled one of the most unexpected events that happened during the time when he worked with Gabi Tamaș at Astra Giurgiu.
Beyond the passion for football and the years in which they shared the locker room, Dan Alexa and Gabi Tamaș are connected by a friendship that remained as strong even after their careers ended. The two continued to work together off the field, so that in 2025, they won the Asia Express – Road of Heroes together, going home with the prize of 35,000 euros, and in 2026, they also appeared together on the sets of the show “Fiertzi pe Mondial”, where they commented on the World Championship matches.
Gabi Tamaș had an important career in football, but the public also knew him through his non-conformist lifestyle, outings in the city, parties and events outside the field that had him as the protagonist, often occupying the front page of the worldly press and fueling numerous stories about the former international.
However, few people know Gabi Tamaș as well as Dan Alexa. They were colleagues, opponents, friends, and the former coach witnessed many of the events that contributed to the image Tamaș built for himself off the field.
Invited to the “Furnicuțe” show, Dan Alexa narrated one of these, which happened during the time when the two were collaborating at Astra Giurgiu, before a scheduled training session on a Sunday morning.
The former coach remembers that he received a phone call asking him to go after Gabi Tamaș, who was partying on the terrace of a restaurant with a lot of people. Although she knew it wouldn’t be easy to convince him to leave, Alexa agreed and went to talk to him.
“We had training, it was on a Sunday, something like that. I get a phone call: “Gabi is on the terrace, he’s in a better mood, there are a lot of people on that terrace, it would be good if you go and solve the situation”.
I told him that I’m not going, it’s very difficult for me, I know him. “Go, please, it’s a more special situation.” I went The terrace was full, 100 people, it was a summer terrace, it was summer. Gabi was somewhere on some chairs, dancing, feeling good. He sees me, he comes to my table, it was 12.00, 13.00, something like that.
So that you understand, around 05:00, we were still together, but polite, not at the table, he was at the table with me. At one point the terrace is empty and I say to him: “Gabi, tomorrow at 9.00 we have training, my request would be for you not to come”. At 05.00 I leave his side, I go to the room. At 06.00, lost call Gabi. At 06.15, missed call, at 07.00 missed call. I didn’t answer. It was clear that he did not sleep until 07.00″, Dan told Alexa about his good friend.
After the night spent in the city, Dan Alexa was convinced that Gabi Tamaș had no way of getting to the stadium. But when he entered the Astra Giurgiu training base, the former defender was already there.
“Now, I’m going to practice. At Astra Giurgiu, to get to the parking lot, there’s a big corridor next to the grandstand. When I enter that new stadium, I see him on a chair, only he was visible, we were far from each other, I see him and I start shaking at the wheel. I say: “Mom, what am I doing now?”. He was playing backgammon, playing backgammon with the one who mows the field.” he continued his story amused.
The surprises didn’t stop, but here. Alexa called Gabi Tamaş into the office and tried again to convince him to go home, but the former international did not even want to hear about such a thing.
Read the continuation in Click!.
