Kakha Kaladze
 |
| File:Kaladze.jpg | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre Back, Left Back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Milan | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1998 | Dinamo Tbilisi | ||
| 1998–2001 | Dynamo Kyiv | ||
| 2001– | Milan | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 1996– | Georgia | ||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 April 2009 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 March 2009 | |||
Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze (Georgian: კახაბერ (კახა) კალაძე, born 27 February 1978 in Samtredia) is a Georgian football defender, who currently plays for Italian Serie A club Milan as well as captaining the Georgia national team.
Club career
Early career
Prior to joining Milan, Kaladze played for Dinamo Tbilisi (1993–97) and Dinamo Kiev (1998–2001). Kaladze has been capped 65 times for the Georgian national team, of which he is also the current captain, scoring one goal.
Milan
Kaladze became the most expensive Georgian footballer in history when Milan paid €16m to bring him to Italy from Ukrainian side 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 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 transferred to Milan in January 2001 and initially tried out in a variety of defensive and midfield positions, before settling into the left-back berth. Kaladze formed a solid defence alongside Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, and Alessandro Costacurta. He made 46 appearances in all competitions as the Rossoneri won the Champions League (despite missing his penalty in the shootout in the final) and the Coppa Italia in 2003. After Kaladze's double success, the Georgian postal service issued a special stamp bearing the player's image. He is the only Georgian player to win a Champions League title.
Injuries unfortunately wrecked much of his 2003–04 campaign. Kaladze returned from injury, but his spot had already been taken. The return of Paolo Maldini in his old left-back role and the flying winger Serginho'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 more than five consecutive matches.
Kaladze won his second Champions League title in 2007, and picked up the FIFA Club World Cup in December that year. He established himself as a first team regular alongside Nesta and sometimes, Maldini, but he has only featured sparingly in the 2008-2009 season due to injury and an apparent dip in form.
International career
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 reverted his decision and was voted Georgia's Footballer of the Year in 2001 and 2002. He scored his first goal against Latvia on February 6, 2007 in a friendly.[citation needed]
Business and personal life
In 2001, Kaladze's brother Levan was kidnapped in Georgia, with a ransom of $600,000 demanded. On May 6, 2005, Georgian police officers found eight dead bodies in Svaneti region, and on February 21, 2006, Levan was identified among the deceased. During the opening leg of the 2006 UEFA Champions League knockout round against Bayern Munich, Milan teammate Andriy Shevchenko scored a goal and dedicated it to Kaladze's family.
Along with his football career, Kaladze is also successful businessman with investments in Georgia, Italy, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. His most recent investment was the establishment of Kala Capital – a holding company which plans to target banking, real estate and energy sectors of the Georgian economy. Kaladze has also been active in charitable causes and is a FIFA ambassador for the SOS Children's Villages.
He is currently dating Georgian model Anuki Areshidze.
Career statistics
Club
| Team | Season | Domestic League |
Domestic Cup |
European Competition1 |
Other Tournaments2 |
Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 1993-94 | 9 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 1 |
| 1994-95 | 23 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 | 0 | |
| 1995-96 | 23 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | - | - | 24 | 0 | |
| 1996-97 | 12 | 0 | - | - | 4 | 0 | - | - | 16 | 0 | |
| 1997-98 | 15 | 0 | - | - | 7 | 0 | - | - | 22 | 0 | |
| Total | 82 | 1 | - | - | 12 | 0 | - | - | 94 | 1 | |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 1998 | 13 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 2 |
| 1998-99 | 25 | 3 | - | - | 12 | 1 | - | - | 37 | 4 | |
| 1999-00 | 25 | 1 | - | - | 14 | 1 | - | - | 39 | 2 | |
| 2000-01 | 8 | 0 | - | - | 7 | 1 | - | - | 15 | 1 | |
| Total | 71 | 6 | - | - | 33 | 3 | - | - | 104 | 9 | |
| A.C. Milan | 2001 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 18 | 3 |
| 2001-02 | 30 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | - | - | 46 | 4 | |
| 2002-03 | 27 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 0 | - | - | 46 | 1 | |
| 2003-04 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2004-05 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | - | - | 26 | 2 | |
| 2005-06 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | - | - | 43 | 2 | |
| 2006-07 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | - | - | 26 | 1 | |
| 2007-08 | 32 | 0 | - | - | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 0 | |
| 2008-09 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 15 | 0 | |
| Total | 188 | 12 | 21 | 1 | 62 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 273 | 13 | |
| Career Total | 341 | 19 | 21 | 1 | 107 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 471 | 23 | |
- As of 20 April 2009
1European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Super Cup
2Other tournaments include the Supercoppa Italiana and FIFA Club World Cup
Honours
Dinamo Tbilisi
- Georgian League: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
- Georgian Cup: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
Dynamo Kyiv
- Ukrainian Premier League: 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01
- Ukrainian Cup: 1998, 1999, 2000
Milan
- Serie A: 2003-04
- Coppa Italia: 2002-03
- Italian Supercup: 2004
- UEFA Champions League: 2003, 2007
- UEFA Supercup: 2007
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2007
International goal
Updated to games played March 4, 2009.[2]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | February 6, 2007 | Tbilisi, Georgia |  Latvia |
1 – 3 | Loss | Friendly |
References
- ^ Mamrud, Roberto (7 January 2009). "Georgia - Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
- ^ [1]