Gabriel Tamaș

Early career

Tamaș was born on 9 November 1983 in Brașov, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local club ICIM Brașov. He started his senior career in the 1998–99 Divizia B season with FC Brașov, making his debut when coach Cornel Țălnar sent him for the last minutes of a match against Sportul Studențesc București. That would remain his only appearance for FC Brașov as he went together with teammate Tiberiu Ghioane to play for first-league team Rapid București. There, he did not get to make his debut as coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him back to the second league on loan at Tractorul Brașov for two seasons.

Dinamo București and Galatasaray

In July 2002, Tamaș became free of contract and coach Țălnar took him to Dinamo București. There, he made his Divizia A debut on 17 August, when coach Ion Moldovan sent him to replace Dan Alexa in the 79th minute of a 5–0 win over Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. He scored his first goal in the competition on 20 October in a 2–0 victory against Național București. By the end of the season, he won the first trophy of his career when coach Ioan Andone used him for the first 71 minutes, then replaced him with Ovidiu Burcă in the 1–0 win against Național in the Cupa României final. Tamaș was transferred in the summer of 2003 by Dinamo to Galatasaray for €2 million. He spent only half a season alongside fellow Romanians Florin Bratu and Ovidiu Petre with the Cim Bom Bom side, being used rarely in the league by coach Fatih…

Tamaș played 67 matches and scored three goals for Romania. He was handed his debut by Anghel Iordănescu on 12 February 2003, coming on as a substitute for Cosmin Contra in the 90+1st minute of a 2–1 friendly defeat of Slovakia. After appearing in five games in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, manager Victor Pițurcă chose him as a starter in all ten matches of the successful UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers, where Romania finished first in its group. He scored two goals, one in a 2–1 away victory against Slovenia and one in a 6–1 home win over Albania. On 25 March 2008, Tamaș was decorated by Romanian president Traian Băsescu for his performances in the Euro 2008 qualifiers; he received Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – ("The Sportive Merit" Medal) class III. Pițurcă used him for the entirety of all three games in the final tournament which were draws against France and Italy, and a loss to the Netherlands, as his side failed to progress from their group. Tamaș played four games during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, and scored his last goal for the national team in a 3–2 friendly loss to Ukraine in Lviv, on 29 May 2010. In the following years, he amassed eight caps in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, four during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers and two in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. His last two appearances were in 2018, being called up by his former teammate Cosmin Contra for the inaugural season of the Nations League. Tamaș played in a 2–1 away victory over Lithuania and in a goalless draw…

Club

International

Dinamo București

Cupa României: 2002–03, 2004–05 Supercupa României: 2005 Spartak Moscow

Russian Cup runner-up: 2005–06 Russian Super Cup runner-up: 2004, 2006 Steaua București

Liga I: 2014–15 Cupa României: 2014–15 Supercupa României runner-up: 2015 Cupa Ligii: 2014–15, 2015–16 Hapoel Haifa

Israel State Cup: 2017–18 Israeli Super Cup: 2018 Voluntari

Cupa României runner-up: 2021–22 Individual

Romanian Footballer of the Year (fifth place): 2010 Gazeta Sporturilor Romania Player of the Month: December 2021