First and foremost, great thread
@Fortitude
Granted "my nation" isn't Georgia, but given the OP mentioned multiple nations I believe my contribution is acceptable, as it contributes to the discussion.
People have different standards to what constitutes being a "nations greatest player " so in this post I'm going to explore a few. Starting with ...
Kakha Kaladze. Okay? But distinguishes him from others. Well, his trophy cabinet with the most notable being he has two Champions League honors to his name. In the 2002/3 UCL Campaign, his group included Bayern Munich who had the likes of Zé Roberto, Ballack, Élber and co. An exuberant side in Deportivo de La Coruña that were making themselves known domestically and on the European stage (back to back quarter finalists). In the next stage Milan had to deal with Real Madrid meaning Kaladze's direct opponent was none other than Figo!! Detractors of this suggestion might go, okay but it was still fecking Milan. And to that I feel it's noteworthy that Milan found themselves in a pickle with having to play Ajax in the Quarter finals with Gattuso, Pirlo and Seedorf out of contention, and one of the players that had to demonstrate his versatility to the betterment of the team was ... that's right Kaladze. He played in midfield for this specific game as Milan advanced to the next round where he was back at left back as they knocked out Inter and Juventus respectively.
Murtaz Khurtsilava. Great, is this going to be another wall of text from fecking Rasendori. Ummm moving on. So if the former managed all that, then how the heck could Khurtsilava be argued in his own right? Well, I go back to the topic sentence from earlier,
'people have different standards to what constitutes being a "nations greatest player'. I taken an excerpt from
Uefa PDF which reads as
To mark UEFA’s Golden Jubilee, each of the 52 member associations has been invited to nominate its most outstanding player of the past 50 years. The 52 Golden Players selected, listed below, will findpermanent recognition at the House of European Football in Nyon. A specially created display withinUEFA’s headquarters will feature all 52 stars, thus ensuring a permanent presence for each country’stop player.While each of the 52 European national associations has nominated its own Golden Player, footballfans worldwide are being invited to make their voice heard through the 50-50 vote to identify the fans’choice of the 50 best European players of the past 50 years. Fans have until the 11 December tomake their choice on uefa.com from pre-selected lists covering the five decades since UEFA wasfounded in 1954. UEFA will reveal the top 50 on uefa.com, starting with number 50 in the first week of January and building up to the top three in the week of the UEFA Congress in April. The winner for Georgia was Murtaz Khurtsilava.
For those curious about the other nations:
Albania Albania – Panajot Pano
Andorra Andorra – Koldo*
Armenia Armenia – Khoren Oganesian
Austria Austria – Herbert Prohaska
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan – Anatoliy Banishevskiy
Belarus Belarus – Sergei Aleinikov
Belgium Belgium – Paul Van Himst
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina – Safet Sušić
Bulgaria Bulgaria – Hristo Stoichkov
Croatia Croatia – Davor Šuker
Cyprus Cyprus – Sotiris Kaiafas
Czech Republic Czech Republic – Josef Masopust
Denmark Denmark – Michael Laudrup
England England – Bobby Moore
Estonia Estonia – Mart Poom*
Faroe Islands Faroe Islands – Abraham Løkin
Finland Finland – Jari Litmanen*
France France – Just Fontaine
North Macedonia North Macedonia – Darko Pančev
Georgia (country) Georgia – Murtaz Khurtsilava
Germany Germany – Fritz Walter
Greece Greece – Vasilis Hatzipanagis
Hungary Hungary – Ferenc Puskás
Iceland Iceland – Ásgeir Sigurvinsson
Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland – Johnny Giles
Israel Israel – Mordechai Spiegler
Italy Italy – Dino Zoff
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan – Sergey Kvochkin[1]
Latvia Latvia – Aleksandrs Starkovs
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein – Rainer Hasler
Lithuania Lithuania – Arminas Narbekovas*
Luxembourg Luxembourg – Louis Pilot
Malta Malta – Carmel Busuttil
Moldova Moldova – Pavel Cebanu
Netherlands Netherlands – Johan Cruyff
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland – George Best[1]
Norway Norway – Rune Bratseth
Poland Poland – Włodzimierz Lubański
Portugal Portugal – Eusébio
Romania Romania – Gheorghe Hagi
Russia Russia – Lev Yashin
San Marino San Marino – Massimo Bonini
Scotland Scotland – Denis Law
Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro – Dragan Džajić
Slovakia Slovakia – Ján Popluhár
Slovenia Slovenia – Branko Oblak
Spain Spain – Alfredo di Stéfano
Sweden Sweden – Henrik Larsson*
Switzerland Switzerland – Stéphane Chapuisat*
Turkey Turkey – Hakan Şükür*
Ukraine Ukraine – Oleg Blokhin
Wales Wales – John Charles
David Kipiani - I feel like I wouldn't be able to do the player justice with my own extensive commentary. Therefore, I would recommend reading the following:
https://thesefootballtimes.co/2016/...political-maestro-the-story-of-kakha-kaladze/
https://medium.com/@maltacalcio/who-was-david-kipiani-2df3edf9f7a4
https://www.ilnostrocalcio.it/2022/11/18/david-kipiani-2/
He's also a player that has been discussed on BigSoccer.com
People have different standards to what constitutes being a "nations greatest player. In this sense, David Kipiani applies when talking strictly about talent.
Aleksandre Chivadze - Naturally, I couldn't leave out Aleksandre Chivadze. I mean I read some years back that there's literally an award named after him which is awarded annually by Georgian Football Federation to talented young player. And funnily enough, I've just gone on YouTube to share a video and I saw a familiar name, the Caf resident
@harms . In that case, I'll leave it to him to chime in on what he thinks of Aleksandre Chivadze.
Harms Video mentioned:
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - FFS Rasendori, another wall of text, but have you actually broached the question because I ain't reading all that. Don't worry, I intentionally left this one for last. Well what is the question presented by the OP ... Will the greatest player in your nation's history change hands in your lifetime? I believe that player for Georgia might very well be
Kvaratskhelia. I believe he has sprinkling of stardust in in tight spaces, and the right level of technique, application and perseverance to relish the responsibility of being considered spearheaded
if you will for club and country. For a moment forget about the silverware, votes etc, what player can match the magic of what he can do with a football and that alone not only puts him in contention for Georgia, and I think by the time he retires he'll be indisputably considered as Georgia's greatest player in their nations history.