One of the brightest Georgian football players at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries is Kakhaber Tskhadadze. Leather ball lovers know his name not only in his native Georgia, but also in Europe. After all, he managed to play in Sweden, Germany and England, for the formidable Manchester City.
Football player childhood
Kakhaber Tskhadadze was born in 1968 in the town of Rustavi, near Tbilisi. He started playing football as soon as he was 8 years old, in the local Arisha team. The first mentors of the young Kakhaber were Murman Gogoladze and Tomaz Dodashvili. It was they who instilled in the future defender the main qualities - determination, the ability to quickly make decisions on the field.
Due to the heavy workload in the sports section, Kakhaber paid little attention to his studies. This is not surprising: after graduating from the 8th grade, he was declared for the youth team of his town in the 2nd division of the championship of the Georgian SSR.
Carier start
The first professional club of Tskhadadze was the local “Metallurgist” from the city of Rustavi, who played at that time in the 2nd league of the union championship. For two seasons, he spent 39 matches in the team, becoming one of the pillars of defense.
Soon after, a logical invitation followed to the leading Georgian club Dynamo (Tbilisi). In the capital's team, Kakhaber Tskhadadze made his debut in 1988 in the major league of the USSR football championship. At that time, “Dynamo” were going through hard times and with great difficulty were able to maintain a place in the elite. Having lost 16 matches out of 30, Dynamo (Tbilisi) finished the season in 14th place. The next season was successful, Tskhadadze entrenched in the base, and his Dynamo did not fight for survival, finishing in 11th place. For two seasons in the capital's club Kakhaber spent 41 matches, noting 1 goal scored.
At the end of 1989, Tskhadadze reached another peak - a call to the USSR youth team, which was then led by Vladimir Radionov.
Tskhadadze in Spartak
During perestroika, Tskhadadze’s career began to change dramatically. In 1991, he tried his hand at the Sweden Championship with the Sundsvall team, a strong middleman of the first Scandinavian League. Here he spent half a year, scoring 2 goals in 11 games.
At this time, Kakhaber Tskhadadze fell on the pencil of the coaches of the national team, first of all Anatoly Byshovets, who said: "If you want to play for Euro, go to the team more seriously." Despite the fact that Tskhadadze was already played for the Georgian national team, he followed the advice of a senior friend. First went to view in Benfica. However, he arrived with an injury that did not allow himself to be fully manifested. Therefore, Kakhaber agreed to move to Moscow “Spartak”.
In 1992, he spent only 7 matches for the red and white, having managed to draw up the title of champion of Russia, and in the same season he moved to Dynamo Moscow. And here his career was short-lived: after spending 12 matches with the blue and white, he went to play in Europe.
Euro 92
In 1992, Tskhadadze went to the European Championships in Sweden as part of the CIS team. The national team in the first match missed the victory over the Germans. The score in the middle of the second half was opened by Igor Dobrovolsky from the penalty spot, Germany recouped only in the 89th minute. And the second meeting - with the Dutch national team - ended in a draw, this time 0-0. The Georgian defender did not get into these matches, having made his debut only in the last game of the group stage with the Scots. In case of victory, the national team practically secured a way out of the group.
Tskhadadze left in the first team, but failed to establish a coordinated game in defense that evening. Already by the 16th minute the CIS team was losing with the score 0: 2. Things did not work out in the attack. In the last ten minutes, the Scots scored a goal from the penalty spot, putting an end to the rout.
German period
In 1993, a Georgian footballer moved to the Bundesliga, to Eintracht from Frankfurt. He spent a season and a half in the first team with virtually no replacements, becoming a prominent figure on the field. Largely thanks to him, the club won bronze medals in the 1992/93 season, losing only to Bavaria and Werder.
In the UEFA Cup, in the first round, rivals “Eintrakht” went to the former club of Tskhadadze - Moscow “Dynamo”. In the Russian capital, the German club organized a crushing defeat in blue and white - 0: 6. In Germany, Dynamo won 2-1, but this could not change anything.
In that draw, “Eintracht” reached the quarter finals, where only in a series of penalty shoot-outs did he lose to the Austrian “Salzburg”.
True, the star of Eintracht soon rolled up. Two years later, the team left the Bundesliga, a year later Tskhadadze returned to Russia.
Again in Russia
In 1997 he became a player in the Vladikavkaz “Alania”. The team was ambitious; last year they won silver medals. However, after Kakhaber Tskhadadze appeared on the team, “Alania” did not increase. The season was not easy. The team no longer fought for medals, but dangled in the middle of the standings.
The season for “Alania” was one of the most uncompromising, out of 34 matches, only 4 teams ended in a draw. True, 30 of the remaining games were lost 16, so in the final table managed to take only 10th place. About vouchers in European competition that year did not have to dream.
Tskhadadze spent 17 matches for “Alania”, marking one goal scored.
In Foggy Albion
At the end of 1997, Tskhadadze signed a contract with the English Manchester City. At that time, one of the current giants of the Premier League did not have enough stars from the sky, vegetating in the Championship (the second most important football tournament in England). And in 1998, the team flew to the Second Division.
The team was going through difficult financial times, as old-timers recall, the situation was so bad that only veterans and free agents who came to play for free could sign.
The situation changed with the arrival of new President David Bernstein, the club quickly returned to the Championship. As a result, Tskhadadze spent 3 seasons in England, leaving the team only in 2000. True, during this time Kakhaber was a rare guest on the field, although for the defender he often scored. In 12 matches, he scored twice.
Home
From England, Tskhadadze went to his historical homeland - to Georgia. In 2000, he signed a contract with the Lokomotiv team (Tbilisi). Together with the team, Tskhadadze went through a golden period in the history of the club. In the 2001/02 season, Lokomotiv managed to take second place. This result is still the highest achievement of the club in the championship of Georgia. In addition, two of the three victories in the Georgian Cup, “railroad” also won under Tskhadadze, in 2000 and 2002.
It is worth noting that for 7 years, from 1991 to 1998, Tskhadadze was regularly called up to the national team of Georgia. Having played 25 matches and scoring 1 goal. He was the first captain in the history of the national team, retaining an honorary armband for almost the entire career.
There were many injuries in Tskhadadze’s football life, including very serious ones - a broken leg, a broken knee ligament. Despite all this, he ended his career at only 36 years old. A respectable age for a defender. His last club was Makhachkala “Anji”. Two seasons that the team played in the First Division, Tskhadadze was the main player in the defense. In 2004, as part of “Anji”, he took 8th place in the championship of the Football National League.
In the coaching post
Having completed his professional football career in 2004, Tskhadadze Kakhaber Dzhumberovich concentrated on coaching. It is worth noting that as a mentor, he already tried himself at a time when he played for Tbilisi “Locomotive”. In 2005 he became the head coach of Dynamo (Tbilisi).
Career in the new field has developed unusually successfully. Together with Dynamo, Tskhadadze became the champion of Georgia in the 2004/05 season. In European competition in the first round, they managed to get through the Estonian Levadia, but then the Danish Brondby became an insurmountable obstacle. Tbilisi lost with a total score of 1: 5.
The following year, Tskhadadze led a modest Sioni from the town of Bolnisi. And immediately he led the club to the first and so far the only gold championship. Having won the second championship of Georgia in a row, Tskhadadze became the best coach of the season.
True, in the Champions League they also managed to reach only the second round of qualification. In the first “Sioni” defeated FC “Baku (2: 0, 0: 1), and in the second lost to the Bulgarian“ Levski ”(0: 2, 0: 2).
The work of Tskhadadze was often prevented by a quick-tempered character. In “Sioni”, he first earned a 5-match suspension for restraint in the “golden” season, and in the second round of the next championship he was first disqualified for five meetings and then completely removed from coaching for a year by the decision of the control and disciplinary committee. The Georgian coach showed a fighting character in European competition as well, having managed to fight in the Champions League match with FC “Baku” head coach, after which he was removed to the stands.
From Georgia, Tskhadadze moved to Azerbaijan. First he headed the capital “Standard”, then coached “Inter” for 5 years. With the last team, he won the national championship once.
In March 2015, he led the national team of Georgia, taking part in the qualifying matches for Euro 2016. Under his leadership, the team held 6 meetings, 4 of which lost. The team can bring itself victories over Scotland (1: 0) and Gibraltar (4: 0) into their assets during this period. In the qualifying tournament, Georgians took only 5th place in their group.
To the East
In April 2016, a new page opened in Tskhadadze’s coaching career, he headed FC Kairat. At the same time, one of the most high-profile acquisitions took place - Andrei Arshavin joined the team .
In the championship of FC “Kairat” fought hard for first place with “Astana”, however, lost 7 points at the finish of the championship and took only second place.
At the same time, the coach of “Kairat” had a number of successful matches with the team in the Europa League. The club started from the first qualifying round. First, in a stubborn two-match confrontation, he beat the Albanian “Teutu” (1: 0, 5: 0). In the second round, he fought with the Tel Aviv-based Maccabi. In the first match, thanks to the goal of Arshavin, everything went to the minimum victory of the Kazakhstanis, but the Israeli club recouped in the 2nd minute of the compensated time. In the second leg, Ben Khaim's goal in the opening of the match, “Kairat” answered with a goal in the 65th minute. The ball at his own expense recorded Ivorian legionnaire Gerard Go. Everything went to extra time, but the Israelis were able to snatch victory. In the 86th minute, Alberman scored the decisive ball.
Tskhadadze proved himself as a coach of “Kairat” and hopes to hold many more successful matches at the head of this team.