Georgi Demetradze ( ka, გიორგი დემეტრაძე; born 26 September 1976) is a Georgian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He made 56 appearances for the Georgia national team scoring 12 goals.

Career

Born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, Demetradze played for the

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its Association football, football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating ...

youth team and signed for the club in 1994 after spending two seasons with Kakheti Telavi. He has become the Georgian league top scorer with Dinamo. In 1997 Demetradze moved to Rotterdam to play for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, but an injury limited his playing time. After one season in Netherlands, he moved to Russia to play for Alania Vladikavkaz. With them Demetradze has become Russian Top Division top scorer in 1999. In 2000, he transferred to Dynamo Kyiv to become a Ukrainian champion. While there he famously missed an open goal against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in the Champions League that would have seen the English side eliminated from the competition. After a year at Real Sociedad Demetradze returned to Russia where he spent half a season with Lokomotiv Moscow and half a season with Alania. In 2003, he moved to Ukraine again, to play for Metalurh Donetsk. He spent 2.5 seasons with them. In mid-2005 he went to play for Alania for the third time. After Alania were relegated, Demetradze transferred to Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 2005 Demetradze participated in three different Leagues. In 2007, he returned to Ukraine and played for Arsenal Kyiv. A year later he signed an annual contract with Azerbaijani football club FC Baku.

Post retirement

Demetradze was arrested by Georgian police in July 2010, and on 23 March 2011 he was found guilty of

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

from people who lost at illegal betting on sports, and sentenced to six years of imprisonment. He was released from prison as a political prisoner on 13 January 2013. Demetradze later married and had a daughter.

Career statistics

All data on his participation in the top league of Ukraine can be found at th
FFU official website
and supplemented by the National Football Teams website.

Career

Post retirement

Career statistics

References

External links