Dan Alexa (born 28 October 1979) is a Romanian professional football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder, currently in charge of Liga III club ASU Politehnica TimiÃÂoara.
Although born in Banat, Alexa was considered disposable while at UM TimiÃÂoara in 1998, and he moved to Rocar BucureÃÂti where he helped his side reach the 2000âÂÂ01 Romanian Cup final.
After several years with short spells at Fulgeru Bragadiru and Universitatea Craiova, Alexa got his big chance as Dinamo BucureÃÂti 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.
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.
He returned to Dinamo in 2006 just for a few months playing 13 matches, scoring one goal.
In the summer of the same year, Politehnica boss Marian Iancu decided to bring Alexa â by then, a real "persona non-grata" in TimiÃÂoara, due to his pledge of loyalty to Dinamo â back to the city where he started his career, together with teammate à Âtefan Grigorie. The fans protested at Alexa's arrival in TimiÃÂoara 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.
On 4 June 2011, the former captain of Politehnica TimiÃÂoara signed a two-year contract with Rapid BucureÃÂti following the relegation of Poli.
On 24 June 2012, Dan Alexa signed with the Cyprus First Division football club, Anorthosis Famagusta, on a free transfer. He signed a reported â¬250,000/yr contract with the club.
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. Alexa scored his first goals for Romania in a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Ukraine at Cyprus International Cup 2011. However, Romania were eliminated from the tournament, after losing on penalty kicks 4âÂÂ2.
After he ended his playing career, Alexa became a manager. His first job was at ACS Poli TimiÃÂoara, in March 2014. Since 23 August 2017 he was manager of DunÃÂrea CÃÂlÃÂraÃÂi until summer of 2019. Then he was named manager of Astra Giurgiu.
UM TimiÃÂoara
Rocar BucureÃÂti
Dinamo BucureÃÂti
Politehnica TimiÃÂoara
ACS Poli TimiÃÂoara
Rapid BucureÃÂti
DunÃÂrea CÃÂlÃÂraÃÂi
CSM ReÃÂiÃÂa
Tunari