Cosmin Moți

Cosmin Iosif Moți (born 3 December 1984) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Bulgarian club Ludogorets Razgrad and the Romania national team.

Cosmin Moți
Moți with Ludogorets Razgrad in 2014
Personal information
Full name Cosmin Iosif Moți[1]
Date of birth (1984-12-03) 3 December 1984
Place of birth Reșița, Romania
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Ludogorets Razgrad
Number 30
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2005 Universitatea Craiova 39 (0)
2005–2012 Dinamo București 177 (4)
2008 → Siena (loan) 4 (0)
2012– Ludogorets Razgrad 190 (26)
National team‡
2003–2006 Romania U21 21 (1)
2008– Romania 15 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 November 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2019

Moți began his career at Universitatea Craiova before moving to Dinamo București in June 2005. He spent seven seasons with the club and won the 2005 Supercupa României, 2006–07 Liga I title and 2011–12 Cupa României. While at Dinamo, he also spent time on loan at Serie A club Siena.

In June 2012, Moți signed with Ludogorets, with whom he won seven consecutive Bulgarian league titles, as well as two Bulgarian Cups, and four Bulgarian Supercups. In May 2015, Ludogorets Arena's South Stand was officially renamed the Moți Stand in recognition of his unique contribution for the Ludogorets's first ever participation in the group stage of Champions league.

In 2008, Moți won his first cap for Romania. He has represented the country at UEFA Euro 2008 and 2016.

Club career

Early years / Dinamo București

Moți started his career at FC Universitatea Craiova, before moving to Dinamo București in 2005.

He made his competitive debut for Dinamo in the 2005 Supercupa României against rival side Steaua București on 31 July. Moți was included in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.

In June 2008, he had been linked with a move to Lazio. Lazio's president, Claudio Lotito, came to Romania to discuss the transfer with Dinamo's officials but the move fell through.

Siena (loan)

On 1 September 2008, Moți was surprisingly sent on loan to Siena, two days after he said he didn't want to leave his club unless Everton were interested. He made his Serie A debut on 25 October, coming on as a second-half substitute for Daniele Ficagna. Moți made his first start for Siena in a 1–1 home draw against Bologna on 16 November. On 2 February 2009, his loan was cancelled by Siena and he subsequently returned to Dinamo.[3]

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 28 June 2012, Moți signed with Bulgarian club Ludogorets Razgrad.[4] He made his debut on 18 July, in a 1–1 home draw against Dinamo Zagreb in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, coming on as a substitute for Svetoslav Dyakov. A month later, on 19 August, he made his A Group debut in a 3–1 home win over Beroe Stara Zagora. With his wholehearted attitude and commitment to the team, he quickly established himself as a first-team regular. Moți scored his first goal for Ludogorets on 4 November in a 4–0 home win against Etar 1924.[5]

Moți (left) with Ludogorets against Arsenal in 2016

On 27 August 2014, Moți played as the goalkeeper for the final minutes in the Champions League play-off round against Steaua București after regular goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov was sent off for a tactical foul in the closing stages of extra time. Moți scored the first kick of the penalty shoot-out and went on to save two shots as Ludogorets advanced to the group stage for the first time in their history.[6] Moți's heroics earned him cult status among Razgrad fans and he had one of the stadium's stands named after him.[7][8] His performance in the memorable encounter also generated headlines in the main international sports media across Europe and the world, with some analyzers considering the match one of the most dramatic in the history of the Champions League.[9][10][11] On 4 October 2018 Moți together with teammate Svetoslav Dyakov was in the starting line-up for Ludogorets in the 0:1 away loss against FC Zürich in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and they jointly became the players with the most appearances for (a) Bulgarian team(s) in European club tournaments, alongside Hristo Yovov whose record of 66 matches they equaled.[12] Moți has (as of 14 April 2020) made 76 appearances, trailing club mates Marcelinho who has 80 and Dyakov (with 79).[13] Although he was no longer an undisputed starter during the 2019/2020 season, in May 2020, Moți extended his contract with the team.[14]

International career

Moți made his debut for the full side on 31 May 2008, coming on for the second half in a friendly game against Montenegro that finished with a convincing 4–0 win for Romania. He then came on in the 17th minute of a 1–0 friendly win against Latvia on 20 August 2008, replacing injured Gabriel Tamaș. On 10 September 2008, Moți took part in his first official game for the national team, coming on in the 68th minute in an away qualifier for the 2010 World Cup against the Faroe Islands that Romania won 1–0. After this first spell Moți did not get called back to the national team until October 2011, when he played his first full 90 minutes as Romania and Belarus finished 2–2 in Bucharest.

Because of his part in Ludogorets Razgrad's entry into the Champions League group stage, Moți was once more recalled into the national team to face regional rivals Greece in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier on 7 September 2014. He was included in Romania's squad for Euro 2016, but did not make any appearances.

Career statistics
As of 29 November 2020[15]
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Europe[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Universitatea Craiova 2002–03 Liga I 20000020
2003–04 1701000180
2004–05 2004000240
Total 3905000440
Dinamo București 2005–06 Liga I 2703070370
2006–07 29110100401
2007–08 2312010261
2008–09 2102000230
Siena (loan) 2008–09 Serie A 40000040
Dinamo București 2009–10 Liga I 2403040310
2010–11 2804130351
2011–12 2524041333
Total 17741912912256
Ludogorets Razgrad 2012–13 A Group 2110020231
2013–14 29393130516
2014–15 23340120393
2015–16 2751020305
2016–17 First League 22420142386
2017–18 20221132355
2018–19 28520131436
2019–20 1224171234
2020–21 811050141
Total 1902625581629637
Career total 41030496110756943
  1. Includes Cupa României, Supercupa României, Bulgarian Cup and Bulgarian Supercup matches.
  2. Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.

International
As of 26 March 2019[15]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Romania
200830
200900
201000
201110
201200
201300
201410
201500
201640
201720
201830
201910
Total150

Honours

Club
Dinamo București
Ludogorets Razgrad

Individual

References
  1. "European Championship 2020: Booking List before Qualifying Round Matchday 10" (PDF). UEFA. 17 November 2019. p. 6. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  2. "Cosmin Moti football profile". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  3. "Exclusiv / Moţi se întoarce la Dinamo!". Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 26 January 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  4. "FC Dinamo București". www.fcdinamo.ro. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013.
  5. (Official website – in Bulgarian) Archived 20 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Сектор Б на "Лудогорец Арена" става трибуна "Моци", героят Козмин удря шампанското в един от багерите тази неделя" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  8. "Домусчиев отличи "вратаря" Моци с невероятна премия, вижте колко получи румънецът" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  9. ""Eurosport" за Лудогорец и Моци: Холивуд! "Това бе един от най-грандиозните мачове в Лигата", пише "Bild" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  10. "В Холандия за Моци: истински герой, да идва като вратар в "Аякс", защитникът имал повече спасени дузпи от национала Яспер Силесен" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  11. "Всички искат Моци, румънецът стане световна сензация" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  12. ""Лудогорец" загуби в Цюрих с гол в края на мача" (in Bulgarian). dariknews.bg. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  13. "Постижения и рекорди на Лудогорец в евротурнирите" (in Bulgarian). ludogorets.com. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  14. "И Козмин Моци с нов договор в Лудогорец" (in Bulgarian). ludogorets.com. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  15. "C. Moți". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  16. Mincheva, Radka (12 December 2014). "Феновете на Лудогорец избраха Моци за "Футболист на годината" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  17. "Cosmin Moți a fost desemnat cel mai bun fundaș al anului 2014 în Bulgaria" (in Romanian). 18 February 2015.
  18. Dimitrov, Ivaylo (17 February 2015). "Владислав Стоянов е най-добрият български футболист за 2014 година! Лудогорци обраха почти всички индивидуални награди" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
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