Temur Ketsbaia
Temur Kezbaia (Georgian თემურ ქეცბაია; born March 18, 1968 in Gali, Abkhazia, Georgian SSR) is a Georgian football coach and former football player. The former midfielder is currently coach of the Georgian national football team. He previously coached the Greek top club Olympiacos and the Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta, for which he was also active as a player in 2002 until his retirement from active football. As an active footballer, he played at the turn of the millennium in the top divisions of England, Scotland and Greece and was a key player of the national team of his homeland.
Kezbaia began his career at Dinamo Sukhumi before transferring in 1987 to Dinamo Tbilisi, for which he in the same year his first appearance in the Supreme League of the USSR. Following the withdrawal of Georgia from the Soviet league system he was with the club three times champion of Umaghlessi league and Georgian national team, which allowed him to "west" to change other European countries. However, his first stop was 1992 Anorthosis Famagusta in Cyprus before 1994 moved to the reigning Greek champions AEK Athens, with whom he won the National Cup in 1996 and 1997.
By the Bosman ruling he could free transfer after the 1997 season for reigning British runner Newcastle United change; with Newcastle he was twice (1998, 1999) without success in the FA Cup final. After 78 missions and seven goals in the Premier League, he left in the summer of 2000 Newcastle to play at the then English second division club Wolverhampton Wanderers, he but after only 24 games left to the end of the 2000/01 season .. His new club was FC Dundee for the 22 times he was used in a year. After the 2002 season Kezbaia trailed off his career with his old club Anorthosis Famagusta until 2004 he was also next player assistant coach and since 2004 player-manager of the club. In his first season as head coach in 2004/05 the club immediately succeeded the championship. In the following qualification for the UEFA Champions League could turn Trabzonspor.
In the summer of 2007, he finally came back from active football and has since only coach of Cypriot society. The following season he was able to celebrate the second championship title as a coach. The resulting eligible to participate in the Champions League led to the biggest success so far of a Cypriot club in European history. Not only did he reached with Anorthosis 3 qualifying rounds the group stage, there, the team battled on even 6 points ( 1 win and 3 draws ) and playful qualification until the last game.
In the summer of 2009 Kezbaia signed a three -year contract with the Greek champions Olympiakos Piraeus series. However Kezbaia was released on 15 September 2009. According to club it was an amicable termination of the contract due to the dissatisfaction of the fans with the current style of play or disagreements between players and coach. Only a month later, in November 2009, Kezbaia took over for the first time as coach of a football team, even that of his home country Georgia.
Kezbaia played between 1992 and 2002 a total of 45 times for Georgia and scored 15 goals.