Jaba Kankava

Jaba Kankava (Georgian: ჯაბა კანკავა, romanized: jaba k'ank'ava, pronounced [dʒaba kʼankʼava]; born 18 March 1986) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Dinamo Tbilisi. Kankava is the three-time winner of Slovakia's Slovak First Football League. With 101 appearances in official matches for the national team, he is the second most-capped Georgian player after Guram Kashia. He has been twice recognized as Georgian Footballer of the Year. Jaba Kankava was born on 18 March 1986 in Tbilisi to Nana and Gia Kankava, and has one older brother, Levan. He played football from a young age, joining Vake 91 when he was six in 1992. Kankava played eight years there under the management of Guram Chomakhidze before moving to Dinamo Tbilisi at the age of 14. In 2004, Kankava started his football career with Dinamo Tbilisi, where Gia Geguchadze was just appointed as head coach. Geguchadze started to create a new club with youngsters and Kankava became a main member of them. In his first year, Kankava won the Georgian Cup, and played in the UEFA Europa League scoring the winning goal against Slavia Prague and contributing to the qualification for the group stages.