Storm director
Kiteishvili: “Maybe I’ll stay forever!”
Sturm take on Leipzig in their final Champions League match today. Before that, there's a confession of love from Otar Kiteishvili: the director explains why injuries make him better and why he has extended his contract in Graz.
For many Sturm fans, his contract extension was almost as good as winning the Champions League. It was a sign that the team would not fall apart after the departures of goalscorer Mika Biereth to the Principality and crowd favorite Jusuf Gazibegovic to Cologne.
"I feel comfortable in Graz. So why should I change?", shrugs the "Georgian Messi", as he is affectionately called by many a fan. "Of course there have been inquiries and talks - but that's the case every transfer window," says the 28-year-old, who has worn the Sturm shirt since 2018. "I can't say whether I'll switch at some point. Maybe I'll stay forever. Who knows?"
Already 1923 minutes in action
Kiteishvili still has big plans with the "Blacks". "I have goals that are actually obvious. I want to defend the title with Sturm - even though I know it won't be an easy task," says the stalwart, who has suffered so many setbacks through injury in the past, with a fighting spirit. "These injuries actually made me better in the end. I got to know my body better as a result, I now know what it needs and how I have to deal with it," says "Kite", who has played a strong 1923 minutes this season.
We should have scored more points. But we've also gained valuable experience.
Kiteishvili über Sturms CL-Erfahrung
In the Champions League, the playmaker, who even captained the team three times, only missed the match against Sporting - Kiteishvili was injured at the time. "Overall, the top flight was an exciting journey for us. It was the first time for many of us. You dream about these games when you're a little kid. We should have scored more points. But we also gained valuable experience," says the 45-time international, who regularly seeks advice from team boss and former Bayern star Willy Sagnol. "He has experienced so much in his career - you can only benefit from that."
Against Leipzig, Kiteishvili - who also played against Portugal star Ronaldo at Euro 2024 - wants to give his all once again: "Leipzig are a top team, I've watched all their recent games. But we want to show everyone once again that we were rightly represented in the Champions League."
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.