Kakha Kaladze

Football player infobox
playername =Kakha Kaladze


fullname = Kakhaber Kaladze
nickname = bilal
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|2|27
cityofbirth = Samtredia
countryofbirth = Georgia
(then Georgian SSR, Soviet Union)
height = height|meter=1.85
currentclub = Milan
clubnumber = 4
position = Centre back
years = 1993–1998
1998–2001
2001–
clubs = Dinamo Tbilisi
Dynamo Kyiv
Milan
caps(goals) = 082 0(1)
063 0(6)
177 (13)
nationalyears = 1996–
nationalteam = Georgia
nationalcaps(goals) = 064 0(1)
pcupdate = 18:44, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = September 14, 2006

Kakhaber (Kakha) Kaladze (Georgian: კახაბერ (კახა) კალაძე, born February 27, 1978 in Samtredia) is a Georgian football player, who currently plays for AC Milan of the Italian Serie A.

Club

Prior to joining AC Milan, Kaladze played for FC Dinamo Tbilisi (1993-97) and Dinamo Kiev (2000-2001). Kaladze has been capped 50 times for the Georgian national 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 in January 2001 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, 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. In the summer he renewed his contract with the "Rossoneri" until 2010.

National team

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.

Career statistics

Club

¹European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Super Cup
²Other tournaments include the Supercoppa Italiana and FIFA Club World Cup

International goal

"Updated to games played March 26, 2008." [ [http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakhaber_Kaladze] ]

Trivia

*In 2001, Kakha'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. 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, Milan 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. He is the first and only Georgian player to win a Champions League title.

Business

Currently, along with his football career, Kakha Kaladze is also successful businessman with investments in Georgia, Italy, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. His most recent investment goes to Georgia, where he established Kala Capital - a holding company which plans to target banking, real estate and energy sectors of Georgian economy. As the first step, Progress Bank is planned to be opened soon by Kala Capital.

References

External links

* [http://www.acmilan.com/InfoPage.aspx?id=625 Profile at ACMilan.com]
* [http://www.kaladze.it/ Official Website]
* [http://www.kalafoundation.org/ Kala Foundation - Official Website]
* [http://www.kalacapital.com/ Kala Capital - Official Website]
* [http://www.progressbank.ge/ Progress Bank - Official Website]