The Georgian team will begin the European Championship in a few hours. Recently, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has attracted mainstream attention. At first, his agent and his father caused a scandal: they said that they would be happy to see the player in another club (now Kvaratskhelia represents Napoli). And then there were Khvicha’s own words for The Player’s Tribune. And there, by the way, is an article about Russia.
Khvicha called the Lokomotiv base a terrible place. And he admitted that he felt alone there.
In early 2019, Kvaratskhelia moved to Lokomotiv; the Moscow club rented it until the end of the season. The Georgian footballer did not forget the time spent in Moscow. This conclusion can be drawn from an interview with him.
“I went to Russia when I was almost 18 years old. My father was very nervous and I also had a difficult time. There was stress because I left my family. A Georgian named Solomon Kverkvelia lived there and he helped me a lot. He helped with other players, sometimes he took me to eat, sometimes he protected me. But I felt alone. He lived on the base and had no friends. I think it was just me and the security guys there. The rest of the players lived in other places. It was a bit of a scary place and I’m not kidding. A deep forest where you couldn’t get out because there were dogs and things like that. I spent every second on the base. I never went to the center of Moscow, I never went anywhere.
I trained at night without lights and did additional classes. At night there was no electricity in the training center. Sometimes a security guard would come and get scared in the dark and ask, “Hey, who’s running across the grass?” Great person. Every time he asked me to finish the exercises. But he had nothing else to do. I only thought about football, so I trained at night. The coach (Yuri Semin – Championship note) appreciated me a lot when I started playing. I have a lot of respect for him because I grew up there, physically, mentally and as a person.”
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as part of Lokomotiv
Photo: Alena Sakharova, “Championship”
Semin explained why security turned off the lights. And Sukhina believes that Kvaratskhelia’s words were embellished.
Former Lokomotiv coach Yuri Semin, who worked with Khvicha, commented on the words of the Georgian footballer for the Championship: “Khvicha loves football very much. Kvaratskhelia trained so much at the Lokomotiv base that the guards had to turn off the lights for him to finish training. That is why Khvicha achieved so much success. And the Lokomotiv base in Bakovka is ultra-modern and meets all international standards.”
Yuri Semin – former Lokomotiv coach
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
Former Lokomotiv boss Stanislav Sukhina doubts that Kvaratskhelia can say such a thing. He does not rule out that the Georgian player’s words have been embellished.
“I really don’t believe these are Jvicha’s words. I hope the source has embellished this. I can’t imagine Khvicha saying that. Anyone who doubts the conditions in which he lived can go to Bakovka. After the reconstruction, the base became even better! I hope another European publication raves and wants to remind you how bad the situation is in Russia.
I don’t think the guy from Georgia was exposed to terrible conditions, thanks to which he grew a little as a player. He ended up in a team where there were players of the level of Chorluka, Miranchuk, Krychowiak. “My hair stood on end when I read this.”
How could Khvicha be alone and abandoned? The team has always been famous for its good and warm family atmosphere. She mentions that there was a Georgian with the surname Kverkvelia. If Khvicha did not want to live in Moscow, but she decided to stay at the base… They did not keep him chained there, she had to live there. If you liked her, it means you liked her. People who participate in organizing team affairs understand what we are talking about. That’s bullshit.
In another part of the interview he praises Semin. If everything was so bad, we wouldn’t have heard the thanks to the coach. “Semin made sure that the footballer was comfortable and did not think about everyday problems.”
Former Lokomotiv boss Stanislav Sukhina
Photo: Alexander Mysyakin, “Championship”
Khvicha is getting too much attention right now. There is a feeling that this is not a very good sign before the debut match of the Georgian national team at the Euro.
What is the strength of the Georgian team?
He is wrong to consider Georgia as a hopeless outsider in the euro. Although she has already completed the task.
