Gabriel Sebastian Tamaș (; born 9 November 1983) is a Romanian former professional footballer played as a centre-back.
Tamaș started out as a senior at FC Brașov in the 1998–99 season, and is a journeyman who has since represented twentythree other teams throughout his career. In addition to his native country, he has played in Turkey, Russia, Spain, France, England and Israel, respectively. Tamaș won seven domestic trophies combined with rival sides Dinamo București and Steaua București in Romania, with which he had multiple spells, and his honours also include the Israel State Cup and the Israeli Super Cup with Hapoel Haifa.
A Romanian international for 15 years, Tamaș totalled 67 caps and three goals for the nation and was chosen in the squad for the UEFA Euro 2008.
Club career
Early career
Tamaș began his senior career in the second league with hometown clubs FC Brașov and Tractorul Brașov. He transferred to Divizia A team Dinamo București in the summer of 2002, spending a season in the capital before earning a move abroad to Turkish side Galatasaray.
Spartak Moscow, Auxerre and various loans
Tamaș moved to Russian Premier League club Spartak Moscow in January 2004, but after playing 15 matches he returned to Dinamo București in the summer on a one-and-a-half-year loan. Tamaș again moved out on loan to Spanish team Celta Vigo for the 2006–07 season.
At the start of the following campaign, Tamaș signed for Auxerre in the Ligue 1. After his first year in France, he again returned to Dinamo București on a season-long loan. His deal was extended for another year and was also elected captain by his teammates.
His third stint at Dinamo was interrupted prematurely in December 2009, and he signed on loan for West Bromwich Albion on 1 January 2010. Tamaș made his debut on 8 January, in a 1–3 Football League Championship loss to Nottingham Forest. He scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw at Reading, on 27 March.
England and Steaua
On 19 May 2010, Tamaș signed a three-year contract with the option of another year for West Bromwich Albion. On 11 September 2011, he elbowed James Vaughan in the face inside his own penalty area in a match against Norwich City; the referee gave no penalty, but Tamaș was handed a three-match ban for violent conduct. He terminated his contract with WBA by mutual consent in September 2013. The following month, he only spent a week at CFR Cluj after being dismissed because of an incident in a bar.
On 17 January 2014, Tamaș continued in England by signing for Doncaster Rovers. Upon the expiry of his contract, he moved to Watford on a one-year agreement effective from 1 July 2014. After nursing a cruciate knee ligament injury for several months, he left Watford in January 2015. On 15 January 2015, Tamaș signed a two-year contract with Steaua București—the cross-town rival of his former club Dinamo—but only made ten league appearances in the remainder of the campaign before leaving.
On 26 August 2015, Tamaș returned to the Football League Championship with Cardiff City on a one-year contract with the option of a further year. During the first half of the season, Tamaș only appeared for the development squad and wasn't involved in the first-team trainings starting from November, resulting in his frustration and claiming he wanted to leave the Welsh capital. He eventually made his debut in a 0–1 FA Cup loss to Shrewsbury Town on 10 January.
On 1 February 2016, Cardiff City announced that his contract was terminated by mutual consent. Tamaș then returned to Steaua București on the condition that he would address his alcohol issues and attend Church on Sundays.
Late career
Between 2017 and 2019, Tamaș featured for Israeli Premier League team Hapoel Haifa, where he aided to two domestic honours. During the latter year, he returned to Romania with Astra Giurgiu, and has also had spells with Universitatea Cluj, Voluntari, Petrolul Ploiești and Concordia Chiajna.
International career
Tamaș was handed his Romania national team 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 at 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 victory over Albania.