Cosmin Iosif Moți (born 3 December 1984) is a Romanian retired 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 ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and currently the technical director of Ludogorets Razgrad. Moți began his career at Universitatea Craiova before moving to

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

in June 2005. He spent seven seasons with the club and won the

2005 Supercupa României The 2005 Supercupa României was the 8th edition of Romania's season opener cup competition. The match was played in Bucharest at Stadionul Cotroceni on 31 July 2005, and was contested between Divizia A title holders, Steaua and Cupa României ...

, 2006–07 Liga I title and 2011–12 Cupa României. While at Dinamo, he also spent time on loan at

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. In June 2012, Moți signed with Ludogorets, with whom he won seven consecutive Bulgarian league titles, as well as two

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament ...

s, and four

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup ( bg, Суперкупа на България) is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match an ...

s. In May 2015,

Ludogorets Arena Huvepharma Arena ( bg, Хювефарма Арена) is a multi-purpose stadium in Razgrad, Bulgaria. It is used for football matches and is the home ground of the local football club Ludogorets Razgrad. The stadium has a seating capacity of ...

's South Stand was officially renamed the Moți Stand in recognition of his unique contribution for Ludogorets's first ever participation in the group stage of Champions league. In 2008, Moți won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for Romania. He has represented the country at

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

and 2016.

Club career

Early years / Dinamo București

On 24 May 2003, Cosmin Moți made his debut for

FC Universitatea Craiova U Craiova 1948, commonly known as FC U Craiova 1948 or FC U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County, which competes in the Liga I. It is along with CS Universitatea Craiova one of the two entities asser ...

in a 3–0 league loss against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. After he spent three seasons at

, Moți went to play for

. He made his competitive debut for Dinamo under coach

Ioan Andone Ioan Andone (; born 15 March 1960) is a Romanian football coach and former player. Club career Ioan Andone, nicknamed "Fălcosul" was born on 15 March 1960 in Șpălnaca and when he was 14 years old he played basketball and football simultane ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in the

which ended with a 3–2 victory against

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

side Steaua București on 31 July. In the 2006–07 Liga I season, coach

Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian football coach and former player who played as a defender. Club career Mircea Rednic, nicknamed "Puriul" was born on 9 April 1962 in Hunedoara and until he was 14 years old he played table tenn ...

put Moți to form a couple in the central defense with

Ștefan Radu Ștefan Daniel Radu (; born 22 October 1986) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a left-back or a centre-back for Serie A club Lazio. After a stint in his home country with Dinamo București during which he earned three domestic ...

, which helped Dinamo win the Liga I trophy, also managing to pass the group stage of the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla won their second consecutive UEFA Cup, defeating Espanyol 3–1 on penalties after the match ...

, reaching the sixteenths-finals where the team was eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Benfica. In June 2008, he had been linked with a move to

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

to play alongside his former Dinamo teammate,

who was already there. Lazio's president, Claudio Lotito, came to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

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

, two days after he said he didn't want to leave his club unless Everton were interested. He made his

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 Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

on 16 November. On 2 February 2009, his loan was cancelled by

and he subsequently returned to Dinamo.

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 28 June 2012, Moți signed with Bulgarian club Ludogorets Razgrad. He made his debut on 18 July, in a 1–1 home draw against

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

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 The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

debut in a 3–1 home win over

Beroe Stara Zagora Beroe ( bg, Берое) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Stara Zagora, that competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded in 1916 under the name ''Vere ...

. 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. Ludogorets vs arsenal 2-3

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 Vladislav Boykov Stoyanov ( bg, Владислав Бойков Стоянов; born 8 June 1987) is a Bulgarian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Stoyanov began his youth career with Metalurg Pernik before transferring to CSKA Sof ...

was sent off for a tactical foul in the closing stages of extra time. Moți scored the first

kick A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...

of the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

and went on to save two shots as Ludogorets advanced to the group stage for the first time in their history. Moți's heroics earned him cult status among Razgrad fans and he had one of the stadium's stands named after him. 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. 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 Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

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 Hristo Georgiev Yovov ( bg, Христо Георгиев Йовов) (born 4 November 1977) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent all of his club career in his native Bulgaria with the exc ...

whose record of 66 matches they equaled. Moți has (as of 14 April 2020) made 76 appearances, trailing club mates Marcelinho who has 80 and Dyakov (with 79). Although he was no longer an undisputed starter during the 2019–20 season, in May 2020, Moți extended his contract with the team. Moti announced his retirement on 15 May 2021, after Ludogorets won its 10th consecutive title.

International career

Cosmin Moți played 15 games at international level for

, making his debut on 6 February 2008 under coach

Victor Pițurcă Victor Pițurcă (; born 8 May 1956) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. Club career Pițurcă was born in Orodel, Dolj County. He joined Universitatea Craiova as a youth in 1970, aged 14, and four years later he was ...

who sent him on the field in the 90+1 minute in order to replace

Gabriel Tamas In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

in a friendly which ended with a 1–0 loss against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He played one game at the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, one at the

Euro 2012 qualifiers The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held ...

, three at the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and two at the 2018–19 Nations League. Moți's last appearance for the national team was on 26 March 2019 in a 4–1 victory against

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

at the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Moți was part of

's squads at

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

and

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

final tournaments without playing.

After retirement career

On 7 June 2021, Moti was announced as the new technical director of Ludogorets Razgrad.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Club

Dinamo București *

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

(1): 2006–07 * Cupa României (1): 2011–12 * Supercupa României (1):

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Ludogorets Razgrad *

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

(9): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

(1): 2013–14 *

(4):

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 2014, 2018, 2019

Individual

*Ludogorets Fans' Player of the Year: 2014 * Bulgarian A Group Defender of the Year: 2014 * Bulgarian A Group Foreign Player of the Year: 2014

References

External links

* *
Profile on fcdinamo.ro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moti, Cosmin 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Reșița Romanian footballers Association football defenders FC Dinamo București players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players FC U Craiova 1948 players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad II players Liga I players Serie A players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Romania international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria UEFA Euro 2016 players Outfield association footballers who played in goal