Aleksandr Vladimirovich Mostovoi ( ; 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 lea ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

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

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

of Balaídos") from his lengthy spell at

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was fou ...

, 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'' () (sometime stylized as ''AS'' or ''As''; ) is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on association football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns ''El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The ...

, 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 country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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 name is ...

and as many

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. He previously represented the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the CIS.

Club career

Spartak and first abroad spell

Born in

Lomonosov, Russia Lomonosov (; 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, located on the southern coast of th ...

, Mostovoi signed for national giants

FC Spartak Moscow FC Spartak Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet Top League, Soviet championships (second only to FC Dynamo Kyiv, Dynamo Kyiv) and 10 Russian Premier League, Russian champ ...

from second division club FC Presnya Moscow, 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 continu ...

and

Sergei Yuran Sergei Nikolayevich Yuran (, ''Serhij Mykolajovyč Juran''; born 11 June 1969) is a Ukrainian-born Russian professional football manager and a former player. As a striker, he represented the USSR and Russia at international level. He has Ru ...

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

; months before arriving, he was controversially awarded

Portuguese citizenship The primary law governing nationality of Portugal is the Nationality Act, which Coming into force, came into force on 3 October 1981. Portugal is a member state of the European Union (EU) and all Portuguese nationals are Citizenship of the Eur ...

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 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Stade Malherbe Caen Stade Malherbe Caen (; commonly known as SM Caen, Malherbe, or simply Caen) is a Football in France, French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, that competes in the Championnat Na ...

, then left after the sole season to fellow French side

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace, commonly known as RC Strasbourg (, ; RCS) or simply just Racing, is a French professional association football club founded in 1906 and based in the city of Strasbourg, Alsace. It became a professional club in ...

, 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. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

1.95 million). He made his debut for the

Galicians Galicians ( or ''pobo galego''; ) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct cu ...

in a 2–0 home defeat against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

, and his creative play and key goals made him a cult figure at Balaídos as the club rose to near the top of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

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 (; born 2 February 1969) is a Russian football manager and former player who manages the Russian national team and Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow. As a player, he was a midfielder and spent most of his car ...

, and helped Celta win the

2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Udinese, Celta Vigo, and Stuttgart. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. First round *Matches played on 18–19 June and 25–26 June First leg ---- ''The game was award ...

; the final was a 4–3 aggregate win over his hometown club

FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club p ...

. However, he could not help the freefall that hit the team in the 2003–04 season, relegating it to the second division 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 as a right-back. He spent most of his professional career with Celta, making 449 competitive appearances including a club record of 309 in La Liga. Club car ...

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 known as 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 Basque ...

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. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

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

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

' 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 CIS and

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

Georgi Yartsev Georgi Aleksandrovich Yartsev (; 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 2005. Club career He learned to play football in the Tekmash Kostroma ...

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 w ...

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 Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. 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, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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

Style of play

A talented

, Mostovoi was known for his technical ability as well as his temperamental character. A quick, agile, creative, and mobile advanced

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

, Mostovoi was also tactically versatile, and capable of playing in several

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

and offensive positions. His preferred position was in a free role as a classic number 10, but he was also used in central midfield and as a winger on occasion. Mostovoi was renowned in particular for his first touch and speed on the ball, as well as his timing, interpretation of space and

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills, which enabled him to get past defenders; he was also highly regarded for his vision and precise passing. Capable of both scoring and assisting goals, he had a penchant for scoring goals from distance.

Retirement

After retiring as a player, in 2005 Mostovoi was persuaded by the then

Russian Tennis Federation The Russian Tennis Federation () is the national governing body for tennis in Russia. It was founded in 1989 as the All-Russian Tennis Association and reorganized under its current name in 2002. The federation serves as the successor to the T ...

president Shamil Tarpishchev to play for the

Russia national beach soccer team The Russia national beach soccer team (, ''Sbornaya Rossii po plyazhnomu futbolu'') represents Russia in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the Russian Football Union, the governing body for football in Russia. The tea ...

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

UEFA coaching licences The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

, 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, 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 was in a relationship with Stéphanie, whom he met in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. The couple have two children, Alexander (born 1996) and Emma. 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 association football, football team based in Seixal. Founded in 1999, dissolved in 2006, and restarted in 2012, it is the reserve team of Portuguese club S. ...

in 2016.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Spartak Moscow *

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (), served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and g ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Benfica *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 1992–93 Strasbourg *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Celta *UEFA Intertoto Cup:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

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 comp ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Russia * Legends Cup:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Individual

* ADN Eastern European Footballer of the Season: 2001

References

External links

Izvestia profile

Stats at LegionerKulichki
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mostovoi, Aleksandr 1968 births Living people People from Lomonosov Footballers from Saint Petersburg Soviet men's footballers Russian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Soviet Top League players Russian Premier League players Primeira Liga players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Segunda División players FC Presnya 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 (men's football) Soviet Union men's under-21 international footballers Soviet Union men's international footballers Russia men's international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2004 players Russian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Russian expatriate sportspeople in France Russian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Russian expatriate sportspeople in Spain 20th-century Russian sportsmen