West Bromwich Albion's Gabriel Tamas is determined that the footballing heroes of tomorrow get the opportunities he failed to get.

The 1994 World Cup might have passed by most Englishmen – given the nation’s failure to qualify – but for Tamas the tournament was a pivotal moment.

Growing up in Brasov, in central Romania, the Balkan nation’s eighth biggest city was an unlikely setting for a future international and Premier League defender.

It was the early 1990s. Romania was coming through a period of transition.

It was rebuilding following the oppressive Nicolae Ceaucescu regime, which was characterised by nationalism, deterioration in Western relations and increasing poverty, bordering on the inhumane.

Ceaucescu was publicly overthrown and, subsequently, executed in December 1989.

While the nation rebuilt its political and civil reputation, the Romanian national team travelled to USA in 1994.

For Tamas, then an 11-year-old, it was the first World Cup he would remember.

Anghel Iordanescu’s side were to reach the quarter-finals but, from memory, there were few nations – perhaps only Bulgaria and eventual winners Brazil – who captured the imagination more during that tournament.

Tamas, inspired by USA 94, has been determined to use his status as an international footballer to give something back.

His home city of Brasov now holds an annual tournament – the Brasov Cup – which involves 200 teams and this year included two junior Albion teams.

Tamas, who invited Albion and his former club Celta Vigo to the competition, admits it is a symbol of what he was denied as a youngster.

A transitional Romania offered many opportunities during the 1990s – but football was well down the list.

He is happy to give his support to the Brasov Cup, which his friends help to organise, and which also includes youth teams from the Gheorghe Hagi and Gheorghe Popescu academies.

Albion fared well. Their under-13s finished fourth, while the under-12s got to the quarter-finals, losing to the Hagi Academy, although Kyle Edward was top scorer of his category, netting 14 goals in five games.

Tamas said: “There were 200 teams in total. I was preparing for Chelsea so I missed it unfortunately but it was a great success.

“My father helped out and it was very successful.

“But the point is that I support it because it’s important to give something back to the youngsters of Romania.

“When I was a youngster we didn’t have tournaments like this. We didn’t have opportunities back then. The country was changing.

“These days it’s better for kids. It was hard for me – as it was for all kids. You need support to become a footballer and it wasn’t easy.

“I was inspired by the Golden Generation. That was the team of 1994. The country had come through the change and they were our inspiration. We were a good side.

“They were great players – Hagi, Petrescu, Popescu, Lacatus, Dimitrescu, Raducioiu –we had some amazing players.

“That 94 team was the first team I remember – it lifted a nation.”

Off the field, Tamas is an intelligent, formidable character.

When he arrived in England he did so against a backdrop of booze-fuelled innuendo. None of it, he claims, was true – a claim which has been backed up by others.

And, despite now being a Premier League footballer, Tamas maintains that he finds England relaxing.

“When I came to England I described the media as my ‘friends’ because the things that I do here I couldn’t do in Romania,” he continued.

“You cannot have a normal life with the press there.

“I can’t go out for dinner or relax. There was no way I could go anywhere after losing 6-0 to Chelsea. I think I’d be chased around a restaurant by the press.

“I’ve never done anything to shame my country or done anything controversial either – yet they want to write these things.

“The English media are wonderful in comparison.

“They would need 50 years to get anywhere near the Romanian press. I am enjoying England.”