Aleksandr Vladimirovich Mostovoi (russian: link=no, Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Мостово́й ; born 22 August 1968) is a Russian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

. Known as ''O Zar de Balaídos'' ("The

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Balaídos The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos (), known as Abanca-Balaídos for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium located in Vigo, Spain. It is owned by the Vigo's city council, and is the home of La Liga club Celta Vigo. The stadium opened on ...

") from his lengthy spell at

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

, he was often referred to as a 'genius playmaker' during his time there, in addition to a volatile temperament.Qué fue de... Mostovoi, el 'Zar de Balaídos' (What happened to... Mostovoi, the 'Tsar of Balaídos')
;

Diario AS ''Diario AS'' () is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns '' El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The paper particularly covers news of the Community of M ...

, 23 January 2009 He also played professionally in his own country, Portugal and France. Mostovoi earned 50

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in a 12-year international career, being chosen for two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and as many

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

. He previously represented the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

Club career

Spartak and first abroad spell

Born in

Lomonosov, Russia Lomonosov (russian: Ломоно́сов; before 1948: Oranienbaum, ) is a administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, locate ...

, Mostovoi signed for national giants

FC Spartak Moscow FC Spartak Moscow (russian: Футбольный клуб «Спартак» Москва, Futbolʹnyy klub «Spartak» Moskva, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships (second only to Dyna ...

from

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

FC Presnya Moscow FC Presnya Moscow (russian: ФК «Пресня» Москва) was a Russian football team based in Moscow. It was founded in 1978 as FC Krasnaya Presnya Moscow. It participated in the third-tier Soviet Second League and was notable for giving t ...

, quickly making an impression. In January 1992, he joined compatriots

Vasili Kulkov Vasili Sergeyevich Kulkov (; 11 June 1966 – 10 October 2020) was a Russian footballer. Either a central defender or defensive midfielder, he was best known for his spells at Spartak Moscow and Benfica. Having retired as a player, he contin ...

and

Sergei Yuran Sergei Nikolayevich Yuran (russian: link=no, Сергей Николаевич Юран, uk, Сергій Миколайович Юран ''Serhij Mykolajovyč Juran''; born 11 June 1969) is a Russian professional football manager and a forme ...

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

; months before arriving, he was controversially awarded

Portuguese citizenship Portuguese nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of Portugal. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Nationality Act, which came into force on 3 October 1981. Portugal is a member state of th ...

through marriage, but never imposed himself in the first team. Midway through 1993–94 Mostovoi joined

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side

Stade Malherbe Caen Stade Malherbe Caen (; commonly known as SM Caen, SMC, or simply Caen) is a French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy, that competes in the Ligue 2. The club was founded on 17 November 1913 by the merger of ''C ...

, then left after the sole season to fellow French side

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

, rejoining coach

Daniel Jeandupeux Daniel Jeandupeux (born 7 February 1949) is a Swiss football manager and retired football forward. Career Born in Saint-Imier, Jeandupeux began playing football for FC La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1972, he joined FC Zürich, where he would win two Sw ...

. With the latter, he first displayed glimpses of an emerging talent.

Celta

Mostovoi's big break came when he signed for

in 1996, for 325 million '' pesetas'' (about

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

1.95 million). He made his debut for the

Galicians Galicians ( gl, galegos, es, gallegos, link=no) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group from Spain that is closely related to the Portuguese people and has its historic homeland is Galicia, in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. Two Romance l ...

in a 2–0 home defeat against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

, and his creative play and key goals made him a cult figure at

as the club rose to near the top of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

standings year after year. Affectionately nicknamed 'The Tsar of Balaídos' by the fans, Mostovoi formed an impressive midfield society with, amongst others, compatriot

Valery Karpin Valery Georgiyevich Karpin (russian: Валерий Георгиевич Карпин; born 2 February 1969) is a football manager and former player who manages FC Rostov and the Russian national team. He is a former midfielder, primarily a ri ...

, and helped Celta win the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup; the final was a 4–3 aggregate win over his hometown club

FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in ...

. However, he could not help the freefall that hit the team in the 2003–04 season, relegating it to the

after the player appeared in a career-worst (in his Celta career) 24 matches. His top-flight tally of 235 games for Celta was a club record until

Hugo Mallo Hugo Mallo Novegil (born 22 June 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for and captains RC Celta de Vigo as a right-back. He has spent his entire career with Celta, making over 400 competitive appearances including a club record ...

broke it in 2021.

Alavés

Having not played for over eight months, and at the age of 36, Mostovoi signed a contract with Dmitry Pietrman's

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

in early March 2005, initially until the end of the second level campaign.Mostovoi makes a comeback
UEFA.com, 12 March 2005 His first and only game came in a league game against

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...

in which he came on as a substitute, in the 78th minute – he scored the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

' only goal (and nearly added a second) in an eventual 1–3 defeat. Having been with the club for only 30 days, Mostovoi told the club directors of his intention to retire claiming he was suffering from back problems.

International career

Mostovoi played for the Soviet national team, the

and

internationally. In another temper tantrum, he was sent home by team manager

Georgi Yartsev Georgi Aleksandrovich Yartsev (russian: Гео́ргий Алекса́ндрович Я́рцев; 11 April 1948 – 15 July 2022) was a Russian football coach and player. He was the head coach of the Russia national team between 2003 and 200 ...

during the latter's trip to

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

, after questioning his methods. He played in the

Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

and the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

and was also picked for the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, but did not play in the latter tournament due to injury. Mostovoi's exclusion from Euro 2004's national squad happened after the 0–1 group stage loss to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Supposedly, the player talked with the media after the match and gave an interview saying that Yartsev was not a good coach and did not understand anything. This was later proven false, after Mostovoi gave another interview and explained he merely said that Yartsev overworked the players during practice, so they didn't have the necessary energy to play well in matches. All in all, group morale dropped after the incident, and Russia lost the second game to hosts

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. In 2009, Mostovoi was part of the Russia squad that won the Legends Cup.

Retirement

After retiring as a player, he repeatedly stated his desire and willingness to lead a football club as a manager. However, Mostovoi does not have the necessary

UEFA coaching licences UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are iss ...

, which he does not want to obtain. Since 2011, he has expressed various versions of this decision: from doubts about obtaining new knowledge in coaching courses to corrupt schemes to obtain this licence by other specialists.

Personal life

Mostovoi graduated from college as an electrician, and later joined a sports academy in Moscow, which provided coaching to young players with a university education. After losing the

2001 Copa del Rey Final The 2001 Copa del Rey Final took place on 30 June 2001 at the Estadio de La Cartuja, Sevilla. The match was contested by Celta de Vigo and Real Zaragoza, and it was refereed by José María García-Aranda. Real Zaragoza lifted the trophy for the f ...

, a group of Celta supporters raised four million pesetas to commission a statue of Mostovoi. The player approved and Maxín Picallo was chosen as the sculptor, but the project was never finished; he believed that his dip in form in 2003 affected enthusiasm in the endeavour. He married Stéphanie in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

during his time playing in the city. His son of the same name, known by the hypocorism ''Sacha'', trialled with

S.L. Benfica B Sport Lisboa e Benfica "B", commonly known as Benfica B, is a Portuguese professional football team based in Seixal. Founded in 1999, dissolved in 2006, and restarted in 2012, it is the reserve team of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica. They play in ...

in 2016.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Spartak Moscow *

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига), served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The professional top level ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

Benfica *

Primeira Divisão The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

: 1993–94 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 1992–93 Strasbourg *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Celta *UEFA Intertoto Cup:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

runner-up: 2000-01

Country

Soviet Union *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Russia * Legends Cup:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

References

External links

Izvestia profile

Stats at LegionerKulichki
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mostovoi, Aleksandr 1968 births Living people People from Lomonosov Footballers from Saint Petersburg Soviet footballers Russian footballers Association football midfielders Soviet Top League players Russian Premier League players Primeira Liga players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Segunda División players FC Asmaral Moscow players FC Spartak Moscow players S.L. Benfica footballers Stade Malherbe Caen players RC Strasbourg Alsace players RC Celta de Vigo players Deportivo Alavés players Dual internationalists (football) Soviet Union under-21 international footballers Soviet Union international footballers Russia international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2004 players Russian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Spain Russian expatriate sportspeople in France Russian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Russian expatriate sportspeople in Spain