| Noël Ott | |
| Fullname: | Noël Robin Ott |
| Birth Date: | 15 January 1994 |
| Birth Place: | Sattel, Switzerland |
| Height: | 1.74 m |
| Position: | Forward |
| Clubnumber: | 10 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2012– |
| Nationalcaps1: | 205 |
| Ntupdate: | 23 September 2023 |
Noël Robin Ott (born 15 January 1994) is a Swiss beach soccer player who plays as a forward for the Switzerland national team.[1]
Known for his pace across the sand and technical abilities in scoring many goals, Ott came to prominence in the sport in 2014, excelling during the European season; he was named best young player in the world that year. Ott has since become described as an "indispensable" part of the Swiss national team and one of the "5 to 10 best players in the world",[2] something which has been officially recognised multiple times in his career as the recipient of many top accolades, including the Bronze Shoe and Golden Ball at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
He is regularly referred to as the "Lionel Messi of beach soccer".[2] [3]
Ott was born in Sattel, Switzerland and raised in Wettingen of Aargau canton.[4] Ott's father, a former amateur of the Swiss third division, inspired him to play association football as a child at six years old.[5] Ott joined Swiss Super League side Grasshoppers as a youth in 2007 and advanced through their junior teams from the under-13s onwards.[5] [6] [7] Meanwhile, aged 9, Ott had begun attending Swiss Beach Soccer youth camps. He was originally tutored by Stephan Meier and Moritz Jaggy, members of the Swiss national team Ott would ultimately play alongside of. He continued to be present at the training camps over the next decade.[4] As a youth, it was clear to Swiss coach Angelo Schirinzi that Ott was a talented beach soccer player.[4]
Ott's prospects of becoming a professional footballer were dashed as he was rejected from progressing to Grasshoppers' upper youth teams.[6] [8] [9] [10] Following this rejection, Franziska Steinemann, future coach of the Switzerland women’s team and a friend of Ott's mother, invited him to play with club side Havana Shots Aargau of the Suzuki Swiss National Beach Soccer League.[5] [6] [8] Ott debuted in the National League in 2009, aged 15.[4] Initially, Ott attempted to continue his football career, joining FC Baden of the Swiss fourth tier for a year whilst also playing for Havana Shots;[6] [11] he made rapid progress with the latter.[9] In his second season with Aargau in 2011, Ott was named "rookie of the year"[4] and in the 2012 season, he was named best player and was the league's top scorer.[11]
Following his performances in the National League, Ott was called up to the Swiss national team and, aged 18, made his debut against Brazil in the 2012 Intercontinental Cup in November.[4] At this point it was firmly in Ott's mind that beach soccer was his priority.[11] Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) described 2014 as Ott's breakout season, confirming him as a "star".[12] But, after winning the MVP award at the 2014 Euro Beach Soccer League Superfinal in August, Ott suffered a serious injury at the 2015 World Cup qualifiers a month later, tearing two knee ligaments, his anterior cruciate (ACL) and medial collateral (MCL), as well as tearing his meniscus.[12] This sidelined Ott for several months. Despite this, Ott was nominated as one of the best three players in the world at the inaugural Beach Soccer Stars awards in November and was also bestowed with the "rising star award" for best young player, aged 20.[10]
He recovered in time for the 2015 World Cup, his first World Cup, in which he was joint top scorer with eight goals, claiming the Bronze Shoe award.[7] In 2015, he also moved from Havana Shots back to his childhood club of Grasshoppers, this time their beach soccer branch, having been persuaded by Swiss colleague Dejan Stankovic.[5] [9] Ott represented FC Barcelona in 2015; Ott began to find that he was frequently being compared to football star Lionel Messi, with both having played for Barcelona, being small in stature, technically agile, frequent goalscorers and wearers of the number 10 jersey.[6] [7] [9] He has since gone on to play for other clubs outside of Switzerland including Catania (Italy), Pisa (Italy), Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Botofogo (Brazil), Sporting CP (Portugal), Artur Music (Ukraine) and Kfar Qassem (Israel). At the 2017 Beach Soccer Stars awards, Ott was named as part of the world team of the year.[5]
In 2019, he won the Swiss National League for the first time with Grasshoppers and earned his first commendation with the Swiss national team, the bronze medal at the 2019 European Games.[5]
Ott tore his meniscus for a second time in September 2020, this time playing football for SC Zofingen. This time the injury required surgery which took place a month later. This ruled out Ott from playing until at least spring 2021.[13] Upon his return, Ott began a spell of sustained success and wider recognition. He first won the bronze medal at the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in which he was also awarded the Golden Ball (best player).[14] His performances led him to be nominated for the MVP award at the 2021 Swiss Sports Personality of the Year ceremony[15] – he finished in fifth place with 6.3% of the vote.[16] He then became European champion with Switzerland for the first time when they won the 2022 Euro Beach Soccer League;[17] for the second time in his career, Ott was also named as one of the world's best three players at that year's Beach Soccer Stars ceremony and part of the world dream team,[18] [19] and was also named as the Aargau Athlete of the Year.[20] In 2023, he became European club champion for the first time, winning the 2023 Euro Winners Cup with Kfar Qassem[21] and a second title with Switzerland – the gold medal at the 2023 European Games.[22] Ott marked his 200th cap for his country in a 7–1 friendly win over Denmark on 1 August 2023.[23]
Ott has described himself as a "whirlwind" who "spins past opponents" and likes to "go one-on-one with opposition players".[5] [7] His pace is also frequently referenced as his strength, with an ability to glide quickly across the pitch without his feet sinking into the soft sand surface;[8] [10] fellow teammate Dejan Stankovic has similarly talked of Ott's "lightness on the ball", that allows him to "dance around opponents".[24] Stankovic has also highlighted Ott's awareness, decision-making and composure in both shooting and playmaking.[14] Ott is also known for his exceptional technical abilities.[7] [10]
In 2013, Ott gained a bachelor's degree in economics.[4] In 2015, he was working as an office administrator in Zürich and would subsequently drive to Basel to train with the national team.[11] His employer of the time in 2017 fired Ott as they were unwilling to accommodate his need to dedicate so much time to beach soccer.[8] [9] He attempted to make a full time living from the sport in 2017 but found life in Switzerland too expensive to survive on payments available to beach soccer players.[25] By 2022, he had completed training as a human resources specialist.[26]
Cristiano Ronaldo is his idol.[10] Within beach soccer, he looks up to Portuguese brothers Leo and Bê Martins but says the most important people in his career have been Swiss coach Angelo Schirinzi and teammate Dejan Stankovic.[5]
The following is a selection, not an exhaustive list, of the major international honours Ott has achieved:
National
Club