Kakhaber Kaladze points the way for Milan
The words of Kakhaber Kaladze
Kakhaber Kaladze è spoke today on RadioTV Serie A with RDS: “Despite the fact that the present engages me a lot, the past I do not want to forget. I thank AC Milan who gave me the chance to win everything and I will be forever grateful to them. As a child I was passionate about soccer, the son of a former soccer player who often took me to the stadium; I started taking my first steps in the soccer school in the village where I lived, then moved to Dinamo Tbilisi and at 16 played as a professional. Like all boys, I had references that I followed: mine were Maradona and Paolo Maldini. I was a child when Maldini played, I had his posters in my room; he was my idol and God gave me the chance to play with him. As a child I always dreamed of becoming a footballer, although I did not realize the difficulties and sacrifices it takes to get to high levels. My countrymen did not expect to see me winning in a top club; in fact, in the village when we met to play, they would tell me I was poor. The key to success è work, in my case the drive to want to prove everyone wrong. I also have to thank those who always discredited me because é thanks to them I found the stimulus to succeed”.
“Shevchenko and I had important seasons with Dinamo Kiev: we were young, strong and motivated, we had a great coach and the team worked well. When he wentò to AC Milan, there was a lot of curiosity; the club had great expectations and he did not disappoint them; already from the first season he showed he was very strong. After a year and a half I joined him. I had had contacts with Bayern Munich; I went to Munich where I was supposed to sign the contract, but back in Kiev, Rezo Chokhonelidze told me that I should go to Milan to sign the contract with Milan. I talked to Galliani and immediately found the agreement for an initial five-year contract. I was overjoyed to be able to play in a club with an important history”.
“It has been a wonderful nine years. There were definitely low moments marked also by bad injuries, but with Milan I won everything we could win: 2 Champions League, Scudetto, Coppa Italia, European Super Cup, Intercontinental, … we won everything. Ours was more a family than a team headed by a great Coach: Carlo Ancelotti. The most beautiful victory è was the one in Manchester against Juventus in the Champions League final. The footballer I most appreciated è was Maldini: a great footballer, a great champion, but even before that a great man and this è the most important thing. Rino Gattuso è another great man; we used to have a lot of fun playing jokes on him because he was very touchy. I have a funny gag to tell about him: one morning we were at Milanello for the usual training session; it had rained a lot the night before and as soon as we got on the field with Rino, we saw a snail on the grass; I told him that if he ate it, we would give him 10,000 euros, and he did. We, of course, never gave him the agreed money. With the whole team we all went to dinner together almost every night, we were really so close. When I think of Milan today I think of a good team that I hope can stay high in the standings to be able to play in the next Champions League. We need important purchases in order to be competitive in Europe as well. I cannot imagine an AC Milan without Maldini and an AC Milan without Maldini. He did well, he made important purchases and with him they started to grow; the decision to remove him è was very strange".
