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Yuri Kovtun

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Yuri Kovtun
Kovtun working with Arsenal Tula in 2021
Personal information
Full name Yuri Mikhailovich Kovtun
Date of birth (1970-01-05) 5 January 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth Azov, Soviet Union
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Aktobe (assistant coach)
Youth career
SDYuShOR-3 Azov
ROShISP-10 Rostov-on-Don
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1988 Luch Azov 36 (1)
1989–1990 SKA Rostov-na-Donu 61 (0)
1991–1993 Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don 64 (1)
1992 Rostselmash-2 Rostov-on-Don 1 (0)
1993–1998 Dynamo Moscow 156 (5)
1999–2005 Spartak Moscow 122 (7)
2000 Spartak-2 Moscow 1 (0)
2006–2007 Alania Vladikavkaz 29 (5)
2007 MVD Rossii Moscow (amateur)
2011–2012 Arsenal Tula (amateur)
Total 470 (19)
International career
1994–2003 Russia 50 (2)
Managerial career
2007–2009 MVD Rossii Moscow
2010 Salyut-Energia Belgorod (assistant)
2013–2014 Volga Nizhny Novgorod (assistant)
2015–2016 Tosno (assistant)
2016–2017 Dynamo Moscow (assistant)
2019–2020 Ural Yekaterinburg (assistant)
2020–2021 Arsenal Tula (assistant)
2022–2023 Rodina Moscow (assistant)
2023– Aktobe (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Yuri Mikhailovich Kovtun (Russian: Юрий Михайлович Ковтун; born 5 January 1970) is a Russian football coach and a former defender, well known as a 1990s Russia national football team player, as well as Dynamo Moscow and Spartak Moscow stopper. He is an assistant coach of Kazakhstani club Aktobe.

Playing career

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Kovtun's career started in minor Russian club Luch Azov in 1988. Then he started his career as a professional player in SKA Rostov-na-Donu and Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don. In 1992, Rostselmash and Kovtun starred in the first Russian championship where they unexpectedly promoted to 8th place. Kovtun was impressive during the season so two top teams were interested in him at the same time : Dynamo and Spartak Moscow. In 1993, Kovtun chose Dynamo Moscow and became their key player for years, until his move to Spartak in 1999.

Whereas Kovtun's only honour during his 6-year spell in Dynamo was a Russian Cup in 1995, he won 3 titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001 after joining Spartak. Moreover, he took part in numerous UEFA Champions League games and found himself a regular Russian national football team player.

International career

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Kovtun played for the Russian international team 50 times, scoring 2 goals.[1] The most notable moments of his international career were his long shot goal to Yugoslavia during a 2002 World Cup qualifier and an own goal in a 0–1 away loss to Iceland Euro 2000 qualifying. He was a part of the Russian squad in the Euro 96 and World Cup 2002 finals.[2] Kovtun was sent off in a Euro '96 match for a lunge at Germany's Dieter Eilts.

Strengths and weaknesses

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Kovtun's strong points as a defender were mainly great tackling, tight marking of opponents and scoring goals in the crucial matches. The main weakness of his game throughout his career was a lack of pace and acceleration. Stemming from this lack of speed, he often had to play too dirty so he could easily receive yellow cards or even be sent off (he holds the Russian League record for number of bookings).

Current activity

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During 2005, already a Spartak's veteran, he could not gain a place in the first team and most of the season he played for the reserves. In January 2006, he left Spartak Moscow for just relegated into Russian First Division Alania Vladikavkaz. He retired in 2007 and became a manager for MVD Rossii Moscow. MVD promoted to the Russian First Division under his supervision.

On 8 June 2009, Kovtun resigned from MVD manager position and was replaced by Vladimir Eshtrekov.[3]

Career statistics

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Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Luch Azov 1988 Soviet Second League 36 1 0 0 36 1
SKA Rostov-na-Donu 1989 Soviet First League 23 0 1 0 24 0
1990 Soviet Second League 38 0 4 0 42 0
Total 61 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 66 0
Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don 1991 Soviet First League 38 1 0 0 38 1
1992 Russian Premier League 23 0 1 0 24 0
1993 Russian Premier League 3 0 3 0
Total 64 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 65 1
Rostselmash-2 Rostov-on-Don 1992 Russian Second League 1 0 1 0
Dynamo Moscow 1993 Russian Premier League 27 1 3 0 1[a] 0 31 1
1994 Russian Premier League 22 2 2 0 2[a] 0 26 2
1995 Russian Premier League 25 0 4 0 3[b] 0 32 0
1996 Russian Premier League 26 1 2 0 5[c] 0 33 1
1997 Russian Premier League 28 0 5 1 5[d] 0 38 1
1998 Russian Premier League 28 1 1 0 4[a] 0 33 1
Total 156 5 17 1 20 0 0 0 193 6
Spartak Moscow 1999 Russian Premier League 26 2 1 0 7[e] 0 34 2
2000 Russian Premier League 17 1 5 0 8[f] 0 30 1
2001 Russian Premier League 26 1 2 0 9[f] 0 37 1
2002 Russian Premier League 16 1 1 0 6[f] 0 23 1
2003 Russian Premier League 23 2 2 1 2[a] 0 3[g] 0 30 3
2004 Russian Premier League 14 0 1 0 6[h] 0 0 0 21 0
2005 Russian Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 122 7 12 1 38 0 3 0 175 8
Spartak-2 Moscow 2000 Russian Second League 1 0 1 0
Alania Vladikavkaz 2006 Russian Second League 26 5 2 0 28 5
2007 Russian First League 3 0 0 0 3 0
Total 29 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 31 5
Career total 470 19 37 2 58 0 3 0 568 21
  1. ^ a b c d Appearances in the UEFA Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  3. ^ Two appearances in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, three appearances in the UEFA Cup
  4. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Intertoto Cup
  5. ^ Six appearances in the UEFA Champions League, one appearance in the UEFA Cup
  6. ^ a b c Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
  7. ^ Appearances in the Russian Premier League Cup
  8. ^ Four appearances in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, two appearances in the UEFA Cup

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ Arnhold, Matthias. "Russia – Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  2. ^ Yuri KovtunFIFA competition record (archived)
  3. ^ "Kovtun resigned from FC MVD (Russian)". sportbox.ru. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
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