2024 Georgia
Batumi, 3 November 2024
The GEORGIAN SPORTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION had invited us to the Kote Makharadze Cup 2024, the traditional International media tournament in football.
“If a hiker could carve out the ideal travel destination, the result would be Georgia.” Quote in Welt, 2023.
Georgia is smaller than Bavaria. Batumi is a port city on the Black Sea and, with around 175,000 inhabitants, the second-largest city in Georgia.
After two tournaments full of defeats, finally a win again. In the end, 6th place out of 8 – a decent success for what is traditionally by far the oldest team.
- Here are the match results.
- Here is a text by Andreas (in German): “Georgia – Games in a Divided World”
Thoughts on the political fate of the Caucasus republic - Here is a text by Brigitte (in German): “Snowy Mountains, Primeval Forests, Monasteries and the Sea”
– travel impressions from Georgia - Here is a film: “From Tbilisi to the West” (with match scenes).
- And another film: “On the Road in Eastern Georgia”.
Both films were shot and edited by Andreas and Brigitte, who travelled around the country before the tournament. Captain Klemmi joined them for a few days.
Shortly before the flight to Kutaisi.
The famous 800-metre, palm-lined Primorsky Boulevard runs along the Black Sea beach, lined with palaces and casinos of American hotel chains.
View of the Black Sea from the team hotel.
View from the beach of the modern hotel buildings. The beach is made of pebbles. Georgia’s most unusual beach lies 50 kilometres north of Batumi: its fine sand shimmers grey-black and sticks to the body because it is magnetic. The locals therefore simply call the beach near Ureki “Magnetiti”.
On the Black Sea, glorious weather.
Not really warm, but refreshing: swimming in the Black Sea.
On the seafront promenade in Batumi.
The jacket was a little too big for Musi, but on his comeback he was a great asset to the team in every respect.
View over Tbilisi towards the Greater Caucasus – which, however, is shrouded in clouds.
Captain Klemmi, as fit as 30 years ago.
Pitch inspection. Result: very short studs.
Mikheil Abaishvili, president of the Georgian Sports Journalists’ Association, and Mamuka Kvaratskhelia, UEFA media officer, were the two organisers of the tournament. They and other gentlemen welcomed the teams; the man in the middle can look back on a long international career as a footballer. His name is Revaz Chelebadze, and in Georgia he is a living legend. He played for Dinamo Tbilisi (and for a few years for Dinamo Batumi) and was regarded as an outstanding technician and goalscorer. His nickname is “Chele” – an allusion to Pelé, of course. The stadium in his home town of Kobuleti is accordingly called the “Chele Arena”.
Confidence, anticipation, self-assurance. The German eleven before the first match. Can you see the will to win and the team spirit in every face? And indeed, we even managed to win a match!
This time Boris was the coach. A laptop coach with great commitment! He wrote several notes with valuable tips and precise instructions that helped the team reach a better, never-before-seen level. After all, we won against Romania, in case anyone hasn’t heard yet.
The German team after the first match.
Team talk before the second match. It was followed by a confident, well-deserved 2–0 win against Romania.
After the first match, a little fine-tuning was needed in order to then – did we mention it? – win a match.
The Wilger knee. It held up and did what it was supposed to do.
The team in the smart jackets from sponsor Intersport Voswinkel.
Serious faces before the second match – which, by the way, was won convincingly.
We won! A WHOLE match!
The gala after the tournament. With us is Brigitte, Andreas’s far better half.
The traditional joint dinner after the tournament. By the way, Moldova won, ahead of Georgia. Armenia and Azerbaijan were due to play for third place, but (as last year) the match did not take place. The two neighbouring nations are not made to play each other, to avoid possible animosity resulting from political and military actions against each other, especially in the recent past. The organisers declared both teams bronze medallists.
Prizes were awarded after the tournament: best goalkeeper was Tautvydas “Tauti” Vencevičius from Lithuania, best defender Nika Kbiladze from Georgia, best midfielder Peter Chilag from Hungary, the fair-play award went to Romania, best striker was Massim Zadeh from Azerbaijan, the most beautiful goal was scored by Hovanes Mamriani from Armenia, the top scorer was Giorgi Totladze from Georgia, and Artyom Shuleak from Moldova was named best player. And then there was this golden thing that Boris received. Due to translation difficulties, it remains somewhat unclear what it was for. The team came up with a few suggestions, all of which could be considered disrespectful. He himself claims he was honoured as the “technically most elegant player”. At least he scored both goals against Romania, and we won that match – just to mention it.
Oleksandr Hlyvynskyi represented Ukraine. His team unfortunately could not leave the country; he himself had professional reasons to travel to Tbilisi. Oleksandr was the press officer of the Ukrainian national team for 14 years and is probably Ukraine’s most popular sports journalist. The time with him was very impressive.
“Tbilisi”, seen here at night, means “warm spring” in Georgian. On the north-eastern slopes of Mtabori, carbonated sulphur spring water of up to 46.5 °C bubbles out of the ground and has been used in bathhouses for centuries.
Mtatsminda amusement park. By the way, the ghost train was bought from a park in Rome.
Helpful, even without a common language.
View (from our accommodation) across Tbilisi to Mount Kazbek, the third-highest mountain in Georgia. The border between Georgia and Russia – more precisely the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania – runs across its summit. In Greek mythology, Kazbek is the mountain to which Prometheus was chained for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humans against their will. According to the myth, an eagle tore out a piece of his ever-regrowing liver every day until he was freed by Heracles.
This rotating monument to the three powers of the state in front of the presidential palace symbolises the separation of the three independent branches: legislative, judicial and executive. It is up to the viewer to decide which element of the sculpture stands for which power.
The 727-metre Mtatsminda offers a great view over the city. According to historical sources, David – one of the 13 “Syrian Fathers” who did missionary work in Georgia at the beginning of the 6th century – settled on the mountain, which is why Georgians also call it Mamadaviti. It only became known as Mtatsminda in the 10th century.
Saint George fighting the dragon (he rescues the king’s virgin daughter from the dragon; she leads him into the city, where George persuades the king and the people to be baptised). Because a lot of gold was used, George fights high up on a column to protect him from theft. It stands on Tavisuplebis Moedani, Freedom Square – formerly Yermolov-Erivansky Square, Square of the Transcaucasian Soviet Republic, Lenin Square and Beria Square, among others. Before the column there was first a statue of Lenin, then a fountain, and since 2006 the Freedom Monument with Georgia’s patron saint.
Guided tour of old Tbilisi. A certain renovation backlog is hard to miss.
This ensemble of iron, wood and stone looks as if it dates from the time when Marco Polo visited the city. Well, it’s not quite that old. But it is an example of the typical “Tbilisi-style” architecture.
Attentive listeners during the city tour.
Typical architecture in old Tbilisi, here in decent condition, with washing lines.
This dog herded and protected the whole group during the city tour, from the first metre to the very end. Along the way it didn’t trust two people, so it barked at them – just as it did at another dog. At the end it was tired and seemed content.
Sleeping dogs in front of Abanotubani, the bath district of Tbilisi. People have bathed here since the 13th century. Because the water contains hydrogen sulphide from the hot sulphur springs beneath the city, it smells rather strong, but it is said to help with all kinds of ailments.
Dogs are always around in Tbilisi. The tag in the ear shows, for example, that the dog has been dewormed. The colour of the tag shows whether the dog can be touched or would rather keep its distance from people.
Countless paintings on canvas are offered in the old town. Tbilisi’s art scene is very diverse.
The leaning clock tower in Tbilisi’s old town was built by the Georgian puppeteer Rezo Gabriadze.
Sioni Cathedral in the old town was built between 575 and 639. It is considered one of the holiest sites of Georgian Orthodoxy.
In 2023 the CDU presented its new design: the three letters CDU in black on a light turquoise background. A special image film featuring Konrad Adenauer, Ludwig Erhard, Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel was released; between a robot hand and children playing basketball you could supposedly see the Reichstag in Berlin. Not so. What was shown was the Georgian presidential palace in Tbilisi. As the photo shows, it looks a little like the seat of the German Bundestag: a glass dome with a few columns underneath. The flag could have been a good clue. And the colour. And the shape of the windows. And the height of the dome. The structures on top. The number of columns. And probably the image description in the photo database. You had one job …
The funicular that runs up Mtatsminda to the Funicular Restaurant and, a few steps higher, to the amusement park.
Marc likes dogs. And the dogs like Marc.
A landmark visible from far away: the Ferris wheel in Mtatsminda Park.
The Tbilisi TV tower. Closed to the public after a fire on its platforms in 2004.
Accompanied by dogs again. We were told that until a few years ago stray dogs were drowned in rivers, for example. Then attitudes towards dogs changed. Dog food vending machines have been set up in many places around the city.
“Mtatsminda Park” is an amusement park with a Ferris wheel, a roller coaster and other attractions. It was founded by the Soviet government in the 1930s and was once the third most visited public park in the USSR.
Stalin on colourful socks. Particularly perfidious given that during the Second World War there is said to have been an especially cruel Russian torture method called “Stalin’s socks”. At the top in the middle, the Georgian dumplings “khinkali” decorate the socks.
By the way, the tournament was named after Kote (Constantine) Makharadze, a Georgian actor and presenter. Born on 17 November, he played roles in various plays, including Hamlet, Bakhtrioni and Simghera Shevardenze. In 1970 he joined the Marjanishvili Theatre, where he appeared in Mosamartle, Kvachi Kvachantiradze, Schiller’s Don Carlos and other productions. He was awarded the title Honoured Artist of the Georgian SSR in 1958 and People’s Artist of the Georgian SSR in 1966.
In Georgia, however, he is remembered above all for his career as a sports commentator. His passionate commentary was very popular with audiences. As a player he was active in basketball and in 1945 led the Georgian SSR junior national team to the USSR championship. In 1957 he became a sports commentator, covering football matches on Georgian television and radio. Two years later he began commentating for central Soviet state television and radio and travelled abroad with the Soviet national football team. For the next four decades he covered all the major sporting events and Olympic Games of the time, including Dinamo Tbilisi’s historic USSR Cup win in 1964 and their European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph in 1981. Makharadze died in December 2002 and is regarded in Georgia as a legendary commentator.
2025 Lithuania