Otar Khizaneishvili ( ka, ოთარ ხიზანეიშვილი, born 26 September 1981) is a Georgian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for the Georgian national team.

Early life

Khizaneishvili was born on 26 September 1981 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 ( ...

, the capital city of the

Republic of Georgia A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...

to a Russian father from Moscow and a Georgian mother.

Club career

Khizaneishvili came from the youth team of

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 ...

, and debuted for the Georgia national team at the age of 18. He went to Russian giants

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...

, but failed to make a breakthrough and had various spells for other Russian clubs as well as Dinamo in the following seasons. Fine performances for Georgia in the

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

attracted the interest of

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

, which is known for signing Georgian players. He scored his first goal for Freiburg in a 3–1 win against

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 1955. The latt ...

on 28 January 2007. In August 2015, Khizaneishvili announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Khizaneishvili earned 20 caps for the national team.

References

External links

* * 1981 births Living people Georgian people of Russian descent Footballers from Tbilisi Men's footballers from Georgia (country) Men's association football defenders Georgia (country) men's international footballers Russian Premier League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players FC Dinamo Tbilisi players FC Spartak Moscow players FC Spartak-2 Moscow players FC Rostov players FC Dynamo Moscow players SC Freiburg players FC Augsburg players FC Vostok players FC Anzhi Makhachkala players FC Dila Gori players FC Zestaponi players FC Sioni Bolnisi players Expatriate men's footballers from Georgia (country) Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia {{Georgia-footy-bio-stub