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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and currently the technical director of

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

club

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

. 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,

2006–07 Liga I The 2006–07 Liga I was the eighty-ninth season of Liga I, the top-level association football, football league of Romania. Season began on 28 July 2006 and ended on 23 May 2007. Teams Eighteen teams played in the 2006–07 season. Four teams we ...

title and

2011–12 Cupa României The 2011–12 Cupa României was the seventy-fourth season of the annual Romanian football knockout tournament. The winner of the competition qualified for the play-off round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. Round of 32 The 14 winners of ...

. While at Dinamo, he also spent time on loan at

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

. 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 () 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 format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

s, and four

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup () 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 and the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. ...

s. In May 2015, Ludogorets Arena'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. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

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 association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Club career

Early years and Dinamo București

On 24 May 2003, Cosmin Moți made his

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut for Universitatea Craiova under coach

Sorin Cârțu Sorin Cârțu (born 12 November 1955) is a former football striker and football coach, currently honorary president at Liga I club Universitatea Craiova. Cârțu won two Romanian Championships and four Romanian Cups with Universitatea Craiov ...

in a 3–0 league loss against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. He spent three seasons at FC Universitatea Craiova, in the last one the team relegated to the second league, so Moți alongside several other teammates went to play for

. He made his competitive debut for Dinamo under coach

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

, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2005 Supercupa României that ended with a 3–2 victory against

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, 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 ...

side Steaua București which helped the team earn for the first time in its history a

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

, also Andone used him in 7 games from the

2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...

campaign when the team eliminated Everton with a historical 5–2 on aggregate, reaching the group stage. In the

season, coach

Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...

put Moți to form a couple in the central defense with Ștefan Radu, 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 edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club association football, football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC, Sevilla won their second consecu ...

, 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 Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

to play alongside his former Dinamo teammate, Ștefan Radu who was already there. Lazio's president,

Claudio Lotito Claudio Lotito (born 9 May 1957) is an Italian entrepreneur and politician. He is the owner and president of the Serie A football club Lazio since 2004. Lotito earned his high school diploma in Classics at Ugo Foscolo Classical Lyceum in Albano L ...

, came to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

to discuss the transfer with Dinamo's officials but the move fell through. He helped the club fulfill "The wonder from

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

" after winning with 3–0 the away game against Slovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the 2009–10 Europa League. In his last season spent at Dinamo, he won the

, being used by coach Dario Bonetti in all the minutes from the 1–0 victory in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

. During his period spent with '' The Red Dogs'' the fans appreciated his secure style of play, one of their favorite chant during the games being: ''Cu Moți n-ai emoții'' (English: With Moți you have no emotions).

Siena (loan)

On 1 September 2008, Moți was sent on loan by Dinamo to

for €600.000, where he was teammate with compatriot Paul Codrea. 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 ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

on 16 November. On 2 February 2009, after only four

appearances, his loan was cancelled by Siena and he subsequently returned to Dinamo.

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 28 June 2012, Moți signed with Bulgarian club

. He made his debut on 18 July, in a 1–1 home draw against

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

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. 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 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 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). This type of ...

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 1–0 away loss against

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

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 (; 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 exception of his three shorter stays abroad with ...

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 Victor Pițurcă was born on 8 May 1956 in Orodel, Dolj County, Romania, starting to play football in 1964 at the youth center of U ...

who sent him on the field in the 90+1 minute in order to replace Gabriel Tamas in a friendly which ended with a 1–0 loss against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He played one game at the

2010 World Cup qualifiers Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

, one at the Euro 2012 qualifiers, 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 ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

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 European ...

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

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Dinamo București *

: 2006–07 *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 2011–12 *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Ludogorets Razgrad *

: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 *

: 2013–14 *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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 Footballers from Reșița Romanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders FC Dinamo București players Siena FC SSD 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 men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Romania men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria UEFA Euro 2016 players Romanian sports executives and administrators 21st-century Romanian sportsmen