Giorgi Tsitaishvili (Rishon LeZion, 11-18-2000) He is one of 82 players who will compete in the European Championship for a team other than that of his country of birth.
Nobody can, in any case, doubt his origins: his father, Klimenti, is considered the youngest debutant (14 years old) in the history of the Georgian League. He then emigrated to Israel – he played for Hapoel Rishon Lezion, Bnei Yehuda and Tzafririm Holon – and his son was born there.
He tried out with Barcelona
Be careful, the story is not over yet. It has a double corkscrew. Giorgi, Taking advantage of his father’s contacts, now coach of Kolkheti Poti, He tried out for Barcelona when he was 11 years old.. He liked it, but he couldn’t be registered due to bureaucratic issues.
Finallythrough Temuri Ketsbaia, former Georgian coach, He entered the Dinamo kyiv youth academy. and suddenly he found himself playing for Ukraine: “When I stood out at Dinamo, they called me up with the youth teams.”
Not only did they summon him, but Tsitaishvili was key for Madrid player Andriy Lunin’s Ukraine to end up winning the 2019 U20 World CupTsitaishvili made five appearances, starting four, scoring one goal and providing one assist. His goal, however, was no ordinary goal. It was the decisive 3-1 in the final against Kang-in Lee’s South Korea.
“Thank you to everyone who believed in us and to those who didn’t. We deserved it as a team, we made history for Ukraine and for our football. Thank you for this fairy tale”he wrote still with the trophy in his hands.
The surprise came when, almost immediately, in 2021, Tsitaishvili resigned from Ukraine. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t want to play for Ukraine. I wanted to help, but once I got my Georgian passport back – I had to give it up in order to be registered with Dynamo – I made the decision to play for Georgia because it was my dream. All my relatives knew it. “If anyone thinks that I changed my decision because I didn’t go with Ukraine, they are wrong.”
He changed sides, but success continues to accompany him. He played in the play-offs, put Georgia in a Euro for the first time and now – he has played all three games – Spain awaits him in the round of 16. Tsitaishvili has a ‘star’.
