Kakha Kaladze

Kakhaber (Kakha) Kaladze (Georgian language: კახა კალაძე, born February 27, 1978 in Samtredia) is a Georgia (country) football player, who currently plays for A.C. Milan of the Italian Serie A. Popular with his ability to play at different positions equally. (Center Back, Sweeper, Left Back, Defensive midfielder and Left Midfielder) Only Georgian who has ever won UEFA Champions League. One of the few players in the world who have ever won UEFA Champions League twice.

Club

Prior to joining AC Milan, Kaladze played for FC Dinamo Tbilisi (1993-97) and FC Dynamo Kyiv (1998-2000). Kaladze has been capped 50 times for the Georgia national football team, of which he is also the current captain.

Kaladze became the most expensive Georgian footballer in history when AC Milan paid €16m to bring him to Italy from Ukrainian side FC Dynamo Kyiv. At Milan, he normally plays as a left back or even as a left-sided midfielder, but recently, he has switched back to a role in the centre of defence, his natural position before joining the Italian club. He made his top-flight debut as a 16-year-old with FC Dinamo Tbilisi during the 1993/94 campaign. He caught the eye with a string of impressive displays and proved a mainstay of the Dinamo defence over four seasons. A €280,000 fee was enough to take him to the Ukrainian Premier League and Dynamo Kyiv in January 98. Here his good form continued, with Kaladze making 63 appearances over two-and-a-half years before bigger, western European clubs came calling. He was transferred to Milan and initially tried out in a variety of defensive and midfield positions, before settling into the left-back berth. Kaladze took a role to form a solid defence along with Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, and Alessandro Costacurta. He made 46 appearances in all competitions as the Rossoneri carried off the UEFA Champions League and the Coppa Italia in 2003. Injuries unfortunately wrecked much of his 2003/04 campaign.

Kaladze returned from injury, however his spot had already been taken. The return of Paolo Maldini in his old left-back role and the flying winger Sergio Claudio dos Santos's switch to full-back limited Kaladze to just 19 Serie A matches and five in the Champions League as Milan finished as runners-up in both competitions. In 2005/06, the injuries of Jaap Stam and Maldini meant he was moved back into the centre of defence. In this new position he was able to fix Milan's defence problems and at one point, Milan did not concede a goal for over five matches in succession. In the summer he renewed his contract with the Rossoneri until 2010.

National team

Kakha Kaladze won his first cap against Cyprus in March 1996 and subsequently featured in his country's qualifying campaigns for the 1998, 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, and the 2000 and 2004 UEFA European Championships. Kaladze threatened to quit the national team after his brother was kidnapped, but had a change of heart and was voted Georgia's Footballer of the Year in 2001 and 2002. Kakha Kaladze has always played in the national team as a dedicated player, despite the problems and tragedies in his personal and family life.

Trivia

- In 2001, Kakha's brother Levan was kidnapping in Georgia, with a ransom of $600,000 demanded. On May 6, 2005, Georgian police officers found eight dead bodies in Svaneti region. On February 21, 2006, it was confirmed that one of the bodies was that of Levan. During the opening leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout round against Bayern Munich, fellow teammate Andriy Shevchenko scored a goal and dedicated it to Kakha's family.

- After Kaladze's double success in 2003, the Georgian postal services issued a special stamp bearing the player's image.

External link

-

Khaka Kaladze is seen as one of the best left sided defenders in Europe