Yura Movsisyan

Early life

Yura Movsisyan was born 2 August 1987 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR to an Armenian family of parents Sergey Movsisyan and Aida Sahakyan and brothers Movses and Hovhannes. Yura has no memories of his home. All he recalls is his family left in "late 1991 or early 1992" because of what Yura remembers as "Killing ... everything." His family moved to the United States and settled in the Los Angeles area, where there is a large Armenian community. Movsisyan attended and played soccer at Pasadena High School, and played a year of college soccer at Pasadena City College before being discovered by MLS scouts prior to the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. His idol is Thierry Henry.

Kansas City Wizards

Movsisyan was signed to a Generation Adidas contract and became the surprise of draft day, with the Kansas City Wizards (now known as Sporting Kansas City) selecting him with the fourth overall pick, the highest in MLS history for a player who did not go to a Division I college program or was not a U.S. youth international. After one game being unused, Movsisyan finally made his debut, coming on as a substitute, in a 2-1 loss against D.C. United on 13 May 2006. Movsisyan became a regular player in the first team by the end of his first professional season. The following season, Movsisyan scored his first goal of his professional career in a 3-0 win over Toronto on 25 April 2007. Soon after, this was followed up when he scored a brace against New York Red Bulls next month on 16 May 2007. He would score two more goals, rising up to five, against Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA.

Real Salt Lake

In September 2007, Movsisyan was traded to Real Salt Lake in a deal involving MLS SuperDraft picks and an international roster spot. Movsisyan made his debut on 17 September 2007 in a 2-2 draw against Los Angeles Galaxy and setting up a goal for Carey Talley. At the last game of the season, Movsisyan received a red card, for the first time of his career, in a 1-0 loss against Houston Dynamo. The next season, Movsisyan would score his first goal in a 4-3 loss against Houston Dynamo on 16 August 2008. On 6 September 2008, Movsisyan scored and set up a goal for Will Johnson in a 2-2 draw against Los Angeles Galaxy, followed by scoring a brace in a 3-2 win over San Jose Earthquakes at the same months. Movsisyan was the player to score Real Salt Lake's first ever MLS Cup Playoffs goal when he scored the winner (and only goal) on 1 November 2008 at Rio Tinto Stadium, when the Utah side beat Chivas USA. At Real Salt Lake, Movsisyan had been on the goalscoring form. Movsisyan signed a pre-contract with Danish club Randers FC on 6 July 2009, with an agreement to join the club following the conclusion of the 2009 MLS season. Having helped Real Salt Lake win their first ever MLS Cup championship that season after beating Los Angeles Galaxy 5-4 on penalties although he was substituted in the second half, Movsisyan left the club and joined Randers on 1 January 2010.

Randers FC

Movsisyan made his debut for Randers FC on the opening game of the season in 0-0 draw against Esbjerg fB on 7 March 2010 and scored a brace twice in a 3-1 win over Silkeborg IF on 14 April 2010 and a 2-0 win over Midtjylland in the same month. By the end of the season, Movsisyan had made 13 appearances and scored 7 goals in an impressive form despite only playing in the second half of the season. During that season, Movsisyan scored twice and provided an assist for Søren Pedersen in a 6-1 win over Dudelange in the first round of Europa League and would win 7-3 on aggregate to advanced to the next round. Another match win in the Europa League, Movsisyan scored a brace in a 3-2 loss against Lausanne-Sport, but the club was eliminated after a 1-1 draw, which Movsisyan scored in the match. Movsisyan replaced the past season topscorer Marc Nygaard's position, from the first match of the spring season. In Denmark he established himself as a powerhouse, playing a major role in the saving of Randers FC from relegation from the Danish Superliga. His good performance led the Russian side Rubin Kazan and Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv.

Krasnodar

He was sold for €2.5 million to FC Krasnodar in Winter 2011. Movsisyan made his debut in an opening game of the season on 12 March 2011 in a 0-0 draw against Anzhi Makhachkala and scored his first goal in a 2-0 win over Spartak Nalchik in the next game. After fighting injury early in the season, Movsisyan has become a major producer on the team and has netted 14 goals, including a brace against Volga (that win would keep the club safe from relegation) and a goal, own goal and an assist in a 2-2 draw against Amkar Perm. At the end of the season, Movsisyan was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the Year for 2011 by the club. Even after the 2011/12 season, Movsisyan was named the top 10 best new foreign player and was the topscorer in the Relegation group. In the opening game of the season, Movsisyan scored a brace in a 2-1 win over Rubin Kazan and scored another and provide an assist for Joãozinho in a 3-1 win over Lokomotiv Moscow. He would score twice brace in a 2-2 draw against Amkar Perm and another goal and an assist for Dušan Anđelković in a 6-1 win over against Mordovia Saransk. His goalscoring form made him linked with various club. But this didn't stop Krasnodar as the club offered him a new three-year contract However, the club couldn't match his salary after Movsisyan wanted a higher salary, according to Manager Slavoljub Muslin. Movsisyan stated Krasnodar will always be dear to him and expressed gratitude to Krasnodar FC president Sergey Galitsky for ensuring perfect conditions for professional growth.

Spartak Moscow

Movsisyan completed a move to Spartak Moscow on 8 December 2012 for a reported €7.5 million and signed a contract for 4.5 years with a salary of €1.5 million a year. He is the 7th most expensive transfer in Spartak history. On 10 March 2013, Movsisyan made his debut for the new club in a home game against Terek Grozny. Movsisyan had an immediate impact by scoring a hat-trick, leading to Spartak victory 3-1. This was the first hat-trick Movsisyan scored in his career and he became the first Spartak player to score a hat-trick in his debut. His next goal came in a 2:0 home victory over Amkar Perm. Movsisiyan then received an injury in a 2:2 derby against CSKA moscow and missed the next 3 games. At the end of the season his team finished 4th which means they have qualified for the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League. Next season started perfectly for Yura, he scored a goal in the first match of the season from a penalty, in a 2:1 victory over Kryliya Sovetov.

Spartak legends Nikita Simonyan and Alexander Mirzoyan have personally sent well wishes to Movsisyan in connection with his becoming a Spartak player. Mirzoyan personally wished Movsisyan success and gave Movsisyan an autographed photo of him. Simonyan wrote to Movsisyan, “Dear Yura, I hope that you win more titles at Spartak than I. I wish you success!” Movsisyan replied: “It will be difficult to exceed Simonyan’s achievements—[both] as a player and a coach. Thanks very much for such valuable gift. I know of Simonyan and Mirzoyan as the greatest players, and I am proud to be an Armenian just like them. I have not seen them play, but I know that they have done a lot for Spartak. I am not even close to them [in terms of accomplishments]. [But] I certainly do have plans. I want to score goals and achieve wins. [And] when something goes successfully, I will enter into history at that time.”

Return to Real Salt Lake

On 15 January 2016, Real Salt Lake announced that it had signed Movsisyan as a designated player on loan from Spartak. Real acquired his rights on a permanent basis on 10 October 2016.

International career

Movsisyan originally stated that his goal was to gain American citizenship and join the United States national team. However, on 9 August 2010, he joined the Armenia national team and made his debut in a friendly against Iran on 11 August 2010. He was one of the most prolific strikers in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, netting in 4 goals and assisting in 5 others. As of March 2016, Movsisyan has been indefinitely ruled out from representing Armenia by the head of Armenia's Football Federation (FFA), Ruben Hayrapetyan, as a result of his lack of commitment to national team play, following allegation of match fixing during the EURO 2016 qualifying campaign. In return, some fans claim this will motivate Yura Movsisyan to play for United States National Team rather then his own home team, being only proper since it has been his home ever since. However, as he participated in official FIFA competitions via European Qualification matches with Armenia, he is no longer eligible to represent the United States.

Personal life

Movsisyan was raised in Los Angeles and holds American citizenship. Movsisyan is married to Marianna and they have three children, daughters, Aida (b. 2012) Rita (b. 2016), and a son, Arman (b. 2010).

International goals

Scores and results list Armenia's goal tally first.

Club

Real Salt Lake

Individual