sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Guram Kashia (Georgian: გურამ კაშია, romanized: guram k'ashia, pronounced [ɡuɾɑm kʼɑʃiɑ]; born 4 July 1987) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Slovan Bratislava and captains the Georgian national team. On a club level, he currently competes for Slovan Bratislava in the Fortuna Liga.[1]

Guram Kashia

Kashia with Vitesse in 2012
Personal information
Date of birth	(1987-07-04) 4 July 1987 (age 35)
Place of birth	Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Club information
Current team	Slovan Bratislava
Number	4
Youth career
2003–2006	Dinamo Tbilisi
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2010	Dinamo Tbilisi	91	(12)
2010–2018	Vitesse	244	(20)
2018–2020	San Jose Earthquakes	44	(0)
2021	Locomotive Tbilisi	16	(4)
2021–	Slovan Bratislava	24	(2)
National team‡
2007–2009	Georgia U21	10	(2)
2009–	Georgia	100	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:48, 9 June 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:12, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

Developed at Dinamo Tbilisi, he spent most of his career at Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse, where he was captain. In eight years in the Netherlands, he played 292 official matches (24 goals) and won the KNVB Cup in 2017.

Club career

Dinamo Tbilisi

Kashia started playing for Dinamo Tbilisi. He is still a big fan of his former club.[2]

Vitesse

In 2010, Kashia moved to the Netherlands and signed for Vitesse.[3] Kashia soon became a regular member of the starting line-up of the club and two seasons after joining, Kashia was elected as the captain of the club. During his career at Vitesse, he amassed a total of 292 matches.

In August 2015, Kashia was named Best Player of August in Eredivisie.[4]

Kashia led Vitesse to the domestic KNVB Cup in 2016–17, starting all but one of their six games and recording a goal and an assist. In his five starts, the club outscored their opponents 12–2, including a 2–0 victory over eventual league champions Feyenoord Rotterdam in the quarterfinals.

In October 2017, Kashia wore a rainbow-striped captain's armband for Vitesse against Heracles Almelo in support of LGBT rights, leading to a backlash in his own country and calls for him to step down from the Georgian national team.[5]

His name was also transliterated as Goeram Kasjia in Dutch.[6]

San Jose Earthquakes

On 14 June 2018, Kashia joined Major League Soccer side San Jose Earthquakes on a multi-year contract,[7] joining compatriot and close friend Vako Qazaishvili.[1]

San Jose declined their contract option on Kashia following their 2020 season.[8]

International career

Kashia made his Georgia debut on 1 April 2009 against Montenegro.[9] In October 2012, he scored Georgia's only goal against Finland in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.[10]

Kashia was named Georgian Footballer of the Year twice, in 2012 and in 2013.[11] As of 14 June 2018^[update], Kashia captains his country.[1] On 26 September 2022, he played his 100th match for Georgia in the Nations League game against Gibraltar.[12]

Personal life

Kashia is from Tbilisi, Georgia. He married his wife Tamtuka in 2009, and their daughter Alessandra was born in 2013.[13][14] His older brother Shota is also a professional footballer and has played at Georgian Erovnuli Liga club FC Chikhura Sachkhere since 2013; both brothers wear #37 for their clubs.[15] Kashia has stated that his older brother is the reason he began playing football as a child.[16]

In November 2017, while playing for Vitesse, Kashia wore a rainbow armband as part of the Dutch initiative "Coming Out Day". His show of support for gay rights led to protests outside the Georgian Football Federation's headquarters demanding his removal from the national team, at which eight people were arrested. He described himself as being "proud to support equal rights".[17] In August 2018, he became the inaugural recipient of UEFA's #EqualGame award for his pro-LGBT rights stand.[18] He was unable to attend the awards ceremony in Monaco due to his club commitments with San Jose, but submitted a video acceptance speech in which he said, "I believe in equality for everyone, no matter what you believe in, who you love or who you are...I will always keep defending equality and equal rights for everyone, wherever I will play."[19] In December 2018, he received the Presidential Order of Excellence from Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili.[20]

He is outspoken about the ongoing illegal Russian occupation of Georgia following the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.[21]

Kashia obtained his U.S. green card in July 2019, qualifying him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of 4 August 2022[23][24]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental[lower-alpha 1]		Other[lower-alpha 2]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Dinamo Tbilisi	2006–07	Umaglesi Liga	11	2					0	0	11+	2+
	2007–08		15	1					0	0	15+	1+
	2008–09		29	1			3	0	1	0	33+	1+
	2009–10		33	8	6	1	4	1	1	0	44	10
	2010–11		3	0			4	0	0	0	7+	0+
	Total		91	12	6+	1+	11+	1+	2	0	110+	14+
Vitesse	2010–11	Eredivisie	28	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	31	3
	2011–12		32	3	3	0	0	0	4	0	39	3
	2012–13		33	2	4	0	4	0	0	0	41	2
	2013–14		32	2	2	1	2	0	1	0	37	3
	2014–15		26	1	2	0	0	0	4	1	32	2
	2015–16		27	5	1	0	2	0	0	0	30	5
	2016–17		34	1	5	1	0	0	0	0	39	2
	2017–18		32	3	0	0	6	0	5	1	43	4
	Total		244	20	20	2	14	0	14	2	292	24
San Jose Earthquakes	2018	MLS	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
	2019		23	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	24	0
	2020		8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
	Total		44	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	45	0
Locomotive Tbilisi	2021	Erovnuli Liga	16	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	17	4
Slovan Bratislava	2021–22	Slovak Super Liga	24	2	3	0	13	1	0	0	40	3
	2022–23		0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	4	1
	Total		24	2	3	0	17	2	0	0	44	4
Career total			416	38	30+	3+	43+	3+	16	2	505+	46+

International

Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kashia goal.

List of international goals scored by Guram Kashia[25]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 October 2012	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	1–0	1–1	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	1 June 2018	Silberstadt Arena Schwaz, Schwaz, Austria	Malta	1–0	1–0	Friendly
3	2 June 2022	Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia	Gibraltar	2–0	4–0	2022–23 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

Dinamo Tbilisi

• Georgian League: 2007–08
• Georgian Cup: 2008–09
• Georgian Super Cup: 2008

Vitesse

• KNVB Cup: 2016–17

Slovan Bratislava

• Fortuna Liga: 2021–22

Individual

• Presidential order of excellence for unconditional support of LGBTQ+ community: 2018
• UEFA#EqualGame Award: 2018
• Georgian Footballer of the Year: 2012, 2013
• Vitesse player of the Year: 2015–16

References

External links

• Player profile at Dinamo's official website (in Georgian)
• Guram Kashia – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Guram Kashia at National-Football-Teams.com
• Voetbal International profile (in Dutch)
• Guram Kashia at Soccerway

На других языках

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- [en] Guram Kashia

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[es] Guram Kashia

Guram Kashia (en georgiano: გურამ კაშია; Tiflis, Georgia, 4 de julio de 1987) es un futbolista internacional georgiano que juega como defensa en el Š. K. Slovan Bratislava de la Superliga de Eslovaquia.[1]

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[fr] Guram Kashia

Guram Kashia (en géorgien : გურამ კაშია) est un footballeur international géorgien né le 4 juillet 1987 à Tbilissi. Actuellement au Slovan Bratislava, il évolue au poste de défenseur central.

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[it] Guram Kashia

Guram Kashia (in georgiano: გურამ კაშია?; Tbilisi, 4 luglio 1987) è un calciatore georgiano, difensore dello Slovan Bratislava e della Nazionale georgiana.

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[ru] Кашия, Гурам

Гурам Кашия (груз. გურამ კაშია; 4 июля 1987, Тбилиси, Грузинская ССР, СССР) — грузинский футболист, защитник клуба «Слован» (Братислава) и сборной Грузии.

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