#Blog – Nika Chanturia (Part I)

Being a football player is not an easy job, as it seems to be at the first sight. Especially when it comes to playing in Georgia, where there is not a high level and footballers need twofold effort to reach success.

Primary aim of my blog is to give a closer view of Georgian football and our teams’s daily life to the people and supporters who are interested in.

This is the first time I have ever made such kind of record and I hope that with Oto Mumladze’s assistance I will manage to be absolutely clear and interesting and in what I want to say.

I am writing my first blog on a bad mood actually, because several days ago, we lost against our direct opponents and principal rivals. However, there is still a long time left before the ending of the championship. We are going to play against Dinamo two more times, so we are not going to give up.

The hardest thing for a footballer is when you are forced to take a rest, especially when your team needs you. This is exactly how I used to feel in Batumi, on May 5, when Locomotive played against Batumi Dinamo, surrounded by crowded tribune. I could not help my team because of the disqualification, but Loco has won a really hard match, this makes me happy.

In the end it turned out to be a great football evening, so I was very upset for not having a chance to play. I also wanted to be a part of that wonderful day.

I have participated in all the rest of the matches in current Erovnuli Liga and I am glad that I also have my contribution in reaching a positive result. I am much stronger this year than in last seasons, as I have gone through a very unpleasant period because of the injury and lack of playing practice.

Stability and creditability is the most important for a footballer. I am trying to justify the trust by showing myself in the games. According to the version of “Lelo” newspaper, I have been two times in a symbolic team of the tour and this is one more stimulant for me.

To my point of view, a footballer must always be in service of the team’s interests. In the match against Dinamo, I could not be in the main squad, in spite of being ready and eager to play from the very first minute.

I entered the field in the 2^nd round, when the final result of the game was already obvious. Whether I was disappointed for the decision of our coach? Yes, but I totally understood him, as the principal strength of Locomotive is solidarity and team spirit.

In this current season, the main reason of our good result is solidarity, for sure. Giorgi Devdariani successfully managed to motivate us and unite around one goal only. Despite the fact, that there are many good players in the team and all of them have ambitions for playing, the coach is trying to find the best solution without hurting anyone’s interests and at the same time reaching the best results. We are dealing with it perfectly so far, as well as our coach.

In the last years, Locomotive was not able to fight for high goals, although, in fact, we had an ambition for this. This year, our ambitions were followed by positive results. Obviously,  we are not satisfied with it for now, but I think that this period is just a beginning of a huge success of Locomotive.

One more Tbilisi derby is ahead. Saburtalo is the only team we were defeated by in the first circle, so we need to revenge and I do believe that we will gain 3 points on May 14.

May 12, 2017.