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Yuri Kovtun
	Kovtun working with Arsenal Tula in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Yuri Mikhailovich Kovtun
Date of birth	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
1987–1988	Luch Azov
1989–1990	SKA Rostov-na-Donu
1991–1993	Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don
1992	Rostselmash-2 Rostov-on-Don
1993–1998	Dynamo Moscow
1999–2005	Spartak Moscow
2000	Spartak-2 Moscow
2006–2007	Alania Vladikavkaz
2007	MVD Rossii Moscow (amateur)
2011–2012	Arsenal Tula (amateur)
Total
International career
1994–2003	Russia
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

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

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

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

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

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	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