Cosmin Moți

Cosmin Iosif Moți (born 3 December 1984) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a central defender and currently the technical director of Bulgarian First League club Ludogorets Razgrad.

Moți began his career at Universitatea Craiova before moving to Dinamo București in June 2005. He spent seven seasons with the club and won the 2005 Supercupa României, 2006–07 Liga I title and 2011–12 Cupa României. While at Dinamo, he also spent time on loan at Serie A club Siena.

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

In 2008, Moți won his first cap for Romania. He has represented the country at UEFA Euro 2008 and 2016.

Early years and Dinamo București
On 24 May 2003, Cosmin Moți made his Liga I debut for Universitatea Craiova under coach Sorin Cârțu 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 Dinamo București.

He made his competitive debut for Dinamo under coach Ioan Andone, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2005 Supercupa României that ended with a 3–2 victory against rival side Steaua București which helped the team earn for the first time in its history a Supercupa României, also Andone used him in 7 games from the 2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign when the team eliminated Everton with a historical 5–2 on aggregate, reaching the group stage.

In the 2006–07 Liga I season, coach Mircea Rednic 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, 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 to play alongside his former Dinamo teammate, Ștefan Radu who was already there. Lazio's president, Claudio Lotito, came to Romania to discuss the transfer with Dinamo's officials but the move fell through.

He helped the club fulfill "The wonder from Liberec" 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 2011–12 Cupa României, being used by coach Dario Bonetti in all the minutes from the 1–0 victory in the final against Rapid București. 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 Siena for €600.000, where he was teammate with compatriot Paul Codrea. He made his Serie A 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 on 16 November. On 2 February 2009, after only four Serie A appearances, his loan was cancelled by Siena 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 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. 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 of the penalty shoot-out 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 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 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 Romania, making his debut on 6 February 2008 under coach Victor Pițurcă 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. He played one game at the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, 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 at the Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Moți was part of Romania's squads at Euro 2008 and Euro 2016 final tournaments without playing.

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

Honours
Dinamo București Ludogorets Razgrad
 * Liga I: 2006–07
 * Cupa României: 2011–12
 * Supercupa României: 2005
 * Bulgarian First League: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21
 * Bulgarian Cup: 2013–14
 * Bulgarian Supercup: 2012, 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