Temur Ketsbaia

Temuri Ketsbaia (Georgian: თემურ ქეცბაია; born 18 March 1968) is a Georgian former professional football player and current manager. He is the current manager of the Cyprus national team.

Club Career

After beginning his professional career in 1987 in his native Georgia with Dinamo Tbilisi, Ketsbaia then played for Cypriot side Anorthosis, and Greek giants AEK Athens.

His career in AEK started with a great misfortune, since in his first official match against Rangers, for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, he seriously injured his hand. He returned after a few months, but his performance in his first season was not as expected, clearly affected by both the injury and his adaptation to a more demanding league. He was the only scorer in the league derby against Olympiacos in the away win on 19 November 1994. The following season he won the cup with AEK, while impressing with his performance. He was even named by his colleagues in the league as the best foreign footballer of the season. On 28 September 1995 he scored against Sion for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. In the semi-finals he scored in both legs against Panathinaikos. His next season he helped AEK a lot to play beautiful football, winning the Greek Super Cup and add another Greek Cup to their trophy case. On 17 October 1996 he opened the score in the 0–2 win against Olimpija Ljubljana for the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

He ran down his contract in the Greek capital and arrived at St James' Park and Newcastle United on a free transfer in 1997. Early in his career with The Magpies, Ketsbaia scored a goal in extra time against Croatia Zagreb, ensuring a place for Newcastle United in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history.

In England, he is remembered for his celebration after scoring a last-minute winner against Bolton Wanderers in 1998, in which he took off his jersey and kicked the advertising hoardings.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Темури Кецбая (russian)