 Moți withLudogorets Razgrad in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cosmin Iosif Moți[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1984-12-03)3 December 1984 (age 40) | ||
| Place of birth | Reșița, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[citation needed] | ||
| Position | Centre back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Ludogorets Razgrad (technical director) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–2002 | CSM Reșița | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2005 | Universitatea Craiova | 39 | (0) |
| 2005–2012 | Dinamo București | 177 | (4) |
| 2008 | →Siena (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2012–2021 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 191 | (26) |
| Total | 411 | (30) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003–2006 | Romania U21 | 21 | (1) |
| 2008–2019 | Romania | 15 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021– | Ludogorets Razgrad (technical director) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Cosmin Iosif Moți (born 3 December 1984) is a Romanian former professionalfootballer who played as acentral defender and currently the technical director ofBulgarian First League clubLudogorets Razgrad.
Moți began his career atUniversitatea Craiova before moving toDinamo București in June 2005. He spent seven seasons with the club and won the2005 Supercupa României,2006–07 Liga I title and2011–12 Cupa României. While at Dinamo, he also spent time on loan atSerie A clubSiena.
In June 2012, Moți signed with Ludogorets, with whom he won seven consecutiveBulgarian league titles, as well as twoBulgarian Cups, and fourBulgarian Supercups. 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 ofChampions league.
In 2008, Moți won his firstcap for Romania. He has represented the country atUEFA Euro 2008 and2016.
Moți was born on 3 December 1984 inReșița, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1992 at local clubCSM Reșița.[2] On 24 May 2003, he made hisLiga I debut, playing forUniversitatea Craiova under coachSorin Cârțu in a 3–0 loss toCeahlăul Piatra Neamț.[2][3] He spent three seasons at "U" Craiova, but in the last one the team was relegated to thesecond league, so Moți, along with several other teammates, went to play forDinamo București.[2][4][5]
He made his competitive debut for Dinamo under coachIoan Andone, playing the full 90 minutes in the2005 Supercupa României that ended with a 3–2 victory againstrival sideSteaua București.[2][6][7][8] Andone also used him in seven games in the2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign when the team eliminatedEverton with a historical 5–2 on aggregate, reaching the group stage.[2][9]
In the2006–07 Liga I season, coachMircea Rednic had Moți form a partnership in the central defense withȘtefan Radu, which helped Dinamo win the Liga I trophy.[2][10] Dinamo also advanced past the group stage of the2006–07 UEFA Cup, reaching the round of 32 where the team was eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate byBenfica.[11][12] In June 2008, he was linked with a move toLazio to play alongside his former Dinamo teammate, Ștefan Radu, who was already at the club.[13][14] Lazio's president,Claudio Lotito, came toRomania to discuss the transfer with Dinamo's officials but the move fell through.[15][16]
Moți helped the club fulfill "The wonder fromLiberec" by winning with 3–0 the away game againstSlovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the2009–10 Europa League.[17] In his last season spent at Dinamo, he won the2011–12 Cupa României, being used by coachDario Bonetti the entire match in the 1–0 victory in thefinal againstRapid București.[2][18] During his period spent withThe 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).[3]
On 1 September 2008, Moți was sent on loan by Dinamo toSiena for€600,000, where he was teammates with compatriotPaul Codrea.[2][19][20][21] He made hisSerie A debut on 25 October, coming on as a second-half substitute forDaniele Ficagna.[22] Moți made his first start for Siena in a 1–1 home draw againstBologna on 16 November.[20] On 2 February 2009, after only fourSerie A appearances, his loan was cancelled by Siena and he subsequently returned to Dinamo.[2][19]
On 28 June 2012, Moți signed with Bulgarian clubLudogorets Razgrad.[23] He made his debut on 18 July, in a 1–1 home draw againstDinamo Zagreb in the second qualifying round of theChampions League, coming on as a substitute forSvetoslav Dyakov. A month later, on 19 August, he made hisA Group debut in a 3–1 home win overBeroe 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 againstEtar 1924.[24]
On 27 August 2014, Moți played as the goalkeeper for the final minutes in theChampions League play-off round againstSteaua București after regular goalkeeperVladislav Stoyanov was sent off for a tactical foul in the closing stages of extra time. Moți scored the firstkick of thepenalty shoot-out and went on to save two shots as Ludogorets advanced to the group stage for the first time in their history.[25] Moți's heroics earned him cult status among Razgrad fans and he had one of the stadium's stands named after him.[26][27] 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.[28][29][30] On 4 October 2018, Moți together with teammate Svetoslav Dyakov was in the starting line-up for Ludogorets in the 1–0 away loss againstFC Zürich in thegroup 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, alongsideHristo Yovov whose record of 66 matches they equaled.[31] Moți has (as of 14 April 2020) made 76 appearances, trailing club matesMarcelinho who has 80 and Dyakov (with 79).[32] Although he was no longer an undisputed starter during the 2019–20 season, in May 2020, Moți extended his contract with the team.[33]
Moti announced his retirement on 15 May 2021, after Ludogorets won its 10th consecutive title.[34]
Moți played 15 games forRomania, making his debut on 6 February 2008 under coachVictor Pițurcă who sent him in the 90+1 minute to replaceGabriel Tamas in a 1–0 friendly loss toIsrael.[35][36] He played one game each in the2010 World Cup qualifiers and theEuro 2012 qualifiers, three in the2018 World Cup qualifiers, and two during the2018–19 Nations League.[35] Moți's last appearance for the national team was on 26 March 2019 in a 4–1 victory againstFaroe Islands in theEuro 2020 qualifiers.[35]
Moți was part ofRomania's squads inEuro 2008 andEuro 2016 final tournaments without playing.[37]
On 7 June 2021, Moti was announced as the new technical director ofLudogorets Razgrad.[38]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Europe[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Universitatea Craiova | 2002–03 | Divizia A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 0 | ||||
| 2004–05 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 39 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 44 | 0 | ||||
| Dinamo București | 2005–06 | Liga I | 27 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 37 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | – | 40 | 1 | |||
| 2007–08 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 26 | 1 | |||
| 2008–09 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 23 | 0 | |||
| 2009–10 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 31 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | 35 | 1 | |||
| 2011–12 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | – | 33 | 3 | |||
| Total | 177 | 4 | 19 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 225 | 6 | ||
| Siena (loan) | 2008–09 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | 4 | 0 | |||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 2012–13 | A Group | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 23 | 1 | |
| 2013–14 | 29 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 51 | 6 | ||
| 2014–15 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 39 | 3 | ||
| 2015–16 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 30 | 5 | ||
| 2016–17 | First League | 22 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 2 | – | 38 | 6 | ||
| 2017–18 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 1[c] | 0 | 35 | 5 | ||
| 2018–19 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 1[c] | 0 | 43 | 6 | ||
| 2019–20 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1[c] | 0 | 23 | 4 | ||
| 2020–21 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 15 | 1 | ||
| Total | 191 | 26 | 19 | 5 | 81 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 298 | 37 | ||
| Ludogorets Razgrad II | 2020–21 | Bulgarian Second League | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 413 | 30 | 43 | 6 | 110 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 573 | 43 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 2008 | 4 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 0 | |
Dinamo București
Ludogorets Razgrad
Individual
Romania squads | |||||||||||||
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