Khvicha Kvaratskhelia creates the atmosphere of a football festival in Italy

21-year-old player of the Georgian national team Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been a player of the Italian club Napoli since July of this year – in July and early August he played several friendly games for this team, and on August 15, 21 and 28 three matches of the Italian Championship. But in this short period, he managed to win not only the sympathy of tens of millions of people in Italy and other European countries, but also the love of people who are often very far from football. And this phenomenon is explained by many factors – technical, jewelry, productive play, natural artistry and sincerity on the field and in life, the fact that Khvicha creates an atmosphere of a real football holiday for tens of millions of people in different countries. And the author of these lines felt this in Florence, where on August 28, late in the evening, at the stadium named after a native of Florence, ex-president of UEFA and the Italian Football Federation Artemio Franchi (1922-1983), a match between the eminent local club Fiorentina and Napoli took place.

I arrived in Florence from the city of Bresha, where, together with Gocha Kacharava (sports columnist for the website www.atiani.ge of the David Kipiani International Foundation) and photojournalist Khatuna Gabitashvili. We were in Bresha in connection with the second round match of the 2023 World Cup qualifying stage held there on August 27 between national basketball teams of Italy and Georgia.

Our team played this match without its leader and captain Tornike Shengelia, who was injured on August 24 in the Georgia-Netherlands match (this game was held in Tbilisi and ended with Georgia’s victory 77:66).

Match in Bresha

Despite the absence of Shengelia, our team had a very worthy, beautiful and confident match in Bresha, often led in the score, and lagging behind the opponent by 6-10 points, reduced the gap in the score and again took the lead. The outcome of the match was decided in the last two minutes, when the highly experienced Italian team managed to snatch victory with a score of 91:84. The score of the game, of course, upset the fans of our team, but despite this, about 200 natives of Georgia, who came to this match in Bresha from their place of residence in nearby cities of Italy, as well as from Rome, etc., enjoyed the game as well , and from the fact that our team adequately and solidly played a match with a highly experienced and titled Italian team. Among the spectators at this match in Bresha were active members of the Georgian diaspora in Italy (residents of Bresha, Mantova, Milan, Bergamo and other cities), representatives of the Georgian Embassy in Italy, as well as several of our fans who came to the match from Austria and Switzerland. Among the spectators was the 17-year-old footballer of the Italian club Cremonese (U-19) Dachi Lordkipanidze, his father, football veteran Kakha Lordkipanidze, who lives in Bresha. I want to express my special gratitude to Khatuna Kiladze, who lives in Mantova (President of the Georgian Tour-იტალიაში travel company operating in northern Italy), who, together with her husband Boris Lomuashvili and children, actively worked in terms of mobilizing our compatriots in Mantova, Milan and other cities northern part of Italy with the aim of their arrival in Brescia for the match. Our compatriots, who actively supported the Georgian national team throughout the match, after the game expressed their gratitude to the basketball players and the coaching staff of the team, as well as to the president of the Georgian Basketball Federation, the recently popular basketball player Viktor Sanikidze, who was in Bresha.

Florence and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

2 hours before the start of the match in Florence, my colleagues and I were near the stadium named after the legendary Artemio Franchi: everywhere it was felt that the match of the local club with Napoli, in which Khvicha Kvaratskhelia plays, was in the city. In recent weeks, some of my colleagues and acquaintances have asked me, “Is Khvicha really so popular in Italy, is the press of Italy and Georgia exaggerating?” A three-day stay in Bresha, a trip from Bresha to Florence (by train) and almost a two-day stay in Florence allows me to tell everyone once again – Khvich Kvaratskhelia and in this case in his person Georgia are very popular and loved in Italy. Seeing on my clothes and Hat symbolism of Georgia, these days I was approached by hundreds of Italians of different ages who expressed admiration for the game and personality of Khvichi and spoke unusually kind words about him and Georgia, many asked to take a picture with him. This was especially noticeable in Florence on the eve of the match, when dozens of Italian fans of Fiorentina and Napoli took pictures with me as a sign of respect for Khvicha and Georgia. There were also several dozen natives of Georgia living in Florence at the entrance to the stadium, who came to the match to cheer for Khvicha. After talking with them, I learned that most of them are well versed in football, but about a third have never been to stadiums before, but because of their love for Khvicha, they decided to attend home and away matches involving Napoli. During the game, dozens of natives of Georgia were seen in the stands of the stadium in Florence, holding the flags of Georgia, chanting “Khvicha”, etc.

Match, Khvicha and Spalletti

Before the start of the game, my Georgian colleagues and I, who had received accreditation for this match in advance from the Fiorentina club, talked to Italian journalists, football veterans, among whom were specially arrived from Naples. Several Italian colleagues and football fans noted that Khvicha, with his game and communication with fans, creates the atmosphere of a real football holiday. Colleagues asked about Khvich, I told them some interesting facts about Khvichi’s career, about his father, a football veteran, a native of the Tsalenjikha region, Badri Kvaratskhelia (Georgian champion, multiple champion and scorer of the Azerbaijani championship), about his grandfather Mamia Kvaratskhelia (1926-1998), who was also a footballer

Colleagues and admirers from Naples who were in Florence asked me to send my heartfelt greetings to Khvichi’s father (Badri), his mother (Maka Lukava), his brothers (Nika and Tornike), telling me that members of the Kvaratskhelia family are waiting in Naples. In the stadium’s press box, Gocha Kacharava and I also met Georgian journalist Nina Makuradze, who lives in Florence and is preparing a special report about Khvich. Together with her, they also visited the post-match press conference of Napoli head coach Luciano Spalletti.

The Fiorentina-Napoli match itself turned out to be interesting, tense, both teams had scoring opportunities, at times the hosts had a territorial advantage, but Napoli also attacked sharply. In a number of episodes, Khvicha played great, in the first half there was a moment when, according to the fans of Napoli (there were about 2 thousand fans from Naples on a specially allocated tribune), the referee of the match should have appointed a penalty against the hosts for violating the rules against Kvaratskhelia, but the referee had a different opinion. At the beginning of the second half, Khvicha made an amazingly beautiful and long-range pass to a teammate, literally putting it on his head, but Lozano missed the goal from close range. Spalletti also pointed out this moment after the game, noting that Lozano could have scored a goal after Khvichi’s pass.

For Khvicha, this match was not the best during his time at Napoli, and this is understandable: after all, a 21-year-old football player who moved to Napoli two months ago cannot be the hero of the game in all matches and score a goal in all matches .. In the 61st minute, Spalletti replaced Khvicha with Raspadori on the field. After the game, some Napoli fans criticized Spalletti for replacing Khvicha, but according to this author and some of my colleagues, Spalletti simply let Khvicha rest on the eve of Napoli’s important matches in September in the European Champions League and the Italian championship. After three rounds of the Italian championship, Napoli scored 7 points and is in first place in the standings.

Tengiz Pachkoria, from Florence especially for “Georgia Online”
Photo 1. L. Spalletti and T. Pachkoria after the match in Florence (photo by N. Mamukadze)
Photo 2. G. Kacharava and T. Pachkoria at the match (photo by Khatuna Gabitashvili)
Photo 3. An hour before the Fiorentina-Napoli match (photo by Khatuna Gabitashvili)