Gocha Gogrichiani Former Soviet and Georgian football player, forward. Date of Birth: 12.08.1964 Country: Georgia

Biography of Gocha Gogrichiani

Gocha Gogrichiani, a former Soviet and Georgian football player, was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. He is also a Russian citizen. Gogrichiani graduated from the football school of Tbilisi's "Dynamo" and played for the youth team of the USSR. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he played for Sochi's "Zhemchuzhina" and won the tournament for the top goal scorers in the western zone of the first league in 1992.

In 1993, Gogrichiani was leading the goal scorers' dispute in the top league after the first round, but he left Russia before completing the season and went to Cyprus. He was personally invited to play in Cyprus by the president of "Omonia," Iliapoulos, who unfortunately died in a car accident a month after Gogrichiani's arrival. Despite arriving in Cyprus with an injury - a double ligament tear in his right leg, Gogrichiani's desire to play, the requests from fans, and the level of the championship allowed him to take the field and score 11 goals in the first round (10 with his left foot). In the 1993/94 season, he scored a total of 19 goals, making him the second top goal scorer in the Cypriot championship.

During his time in Cyprus, Gogrichiani participated in European cup competitions twice: he played 2 games and scored 1 goal for "Omonia" in the 1994/95 Cup Winners' Cup and played 1 game for "Nea Salamis" in the 1995 Intertoto Cup. After three seasons in Cyprus, he returned to "Zhemchuzhina," then played for Nizhny Novgorod's "Lokomotiv" and lower league clubs. In total, he played 102 matches and scored 35 goals in the Russian Premier League.

Gogrichiani holds the record for the number of goals scored for Sochi's "Zhemchuzhina" - 72 goals (31 in the top league). He made his debut in the Russian Premier League on March 7, 1993, in a home match against "Lokomotiv" Nizhny Novgorod (1:1), where he also scored his first goal in the top league. He played 8 matches and scored 2 goals for the Georgian national team, including one of the goals in the victory over Wales (5:0) in November 1994. After retiring, he became a member of the coaching staff of "Zhemchuzhina." Gogrichiani currently resides in Sochi.