Jaba Kankava

Jaba Kankava (Georgian: ჯაბა კანკავა, romanized: jaba k'ank'ava, pronounced [d͡ʒɑbɑ kʼɑnkʼɑvɑ]; born 18 March 1986) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Valenciennes.

Jaba Kankava
Kankava in 2014
Personal information
Full name Jaba Kankava
Date of birth (1986-03-18) 18 March 1986
Place of birth Tbilisi, Georgia
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Valenciennes
Number 6
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Dinamo Tbilisi 14 (0)
2005 Alania Vladikavkaz 12 (0)
2005–2006 Arsenal Kyiv 24 (4)
2007–2015 Dnipro 91 (4)
2010–2012 → Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (loan) 37 (2)
2015–2017 Reims 47 (0)
2018–2020 Tobol 76 (4)
2021– Valenciennes 0 (0)
National team‡
2002–2003 Georgia U17 3 (0)
2003–2004 Georgia U19 5 (0)
2004–2006 Georgia U21 8 (0)
2004– Georgia 89 (10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 November 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 October 2019

He has previously played for Reims, Dinamo Tbilisi, Alania Vladikavkaz,[1] Arsenal Kyiv, and FC Dnipro.

Club career

In 2004 Jaba 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.

After one season at Dinamo, Kankava moved to Alania Vladikavkaz, where he played 12 matches, before signing a contract with Arsenal Kyiv in 2005. At Arsenal Kyiv, he played 24 matches and scored 4 goals.

In 2007, Kankava agreed to sign a three-year contract with league rival Dnipro. Newly arrived Kankava was among the starting squad from the first games but received a red card against Dynamo Kyiv because of a tough tackle and missed several games and was among the bench players. In eight years at Dnipro, he played 91 matches and scored 4 goals.

In 2015, Kankava joined Ligue 1 club Reims. In July 2017, he agreed to the termination of his contract which ran until 2018.[2]

On 22 November 2018, Kankava signed a new two-year contract with FC Tobol.[3]

On 16 January 2021, Valenciennes announced the signing of Kankava on a contract until June 2021.[4]

International career

Kankava played 5 games in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying and 9 games in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying. He also played 2 friendlies i[5] 4 in 2006,[6] 2 in 2007[7] and 2 in 2008.

Kankava scored a goal against Croatia in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying.

Career statistics

International
As of 15 October 2019
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Georgia 200410
200560
200691
200771
200820
200900
201010
201172
201270
201360
201471
201582
201620
201780
201862
201981
Total8510

International goals
Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kankava goal.[8]
List of international goals scored by Jaba Kankava
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.1 March 2006Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard Malta2–02–0Friendly
2.16 November 2007Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha Qatar1–02–1Friendly
3.3 June 2011Stadion Poljud, Split Croatia1–01–2UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
4.6 September 2011Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard Malta1–01–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
5.14 October 2014Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé Gibraltar3–03–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
6.25 March 2015Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi Malta1–02–0Friendly
7.12 October 2015Red Bull Arena, Leipzig Germany1–11–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
8.13 October 2018Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi Andorra3–03–02018–19 UEFA Nations League D
9.16 October 2018Daugava Stadium, Riga Latvia1–03–02018–19 UEFA Nations League D
10.15 October 2019Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar Gibraltar2–03–2UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Club

Dinamo Tbilisi

Dnipro

Awards

On 30 March 2014, Kankava saved the life of FC Dynamo Kyiv captain, Oleh Husyev, after Husyev was briefly knocked unconscious in a collision and swallowed his tongue which blocked his airway. Kankava reacted immediately by sticking his fingers in Husyev's mouth to dislodge his tongue and clear his airway.[9] On 12 April 2014 before Dnipro played Metalurh Zaporizhya at the Dnipro Arena, Kankava was awarded the Order of Merit for his actions in Dnipropetrovsk.[10]

References
  1. "Zestafoni make their move". UEFA.com. 11 March 2005. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  2. "Transferts : Jaba Kankava quitte Reims". L'Équipe (in French). 24 July 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  3. "Тобол продлил отношения с 4 игроками". fctobol.kz (in Russian). FC Tobol. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  4. "Jaba Kankava s'engage avec le VAFC". va-fc.com/ (in French). Valenciennes FC. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  5. http://www.gff.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=132
  6. http://www.gff.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=303%5B%5D
  7. http://www.gff.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=310%5B%5D
  8. "Kankava, Jaba". National Football Teams. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  9. "Dnipro's Jaba Kankava saves Kiev captain's life after he swallows tongue". The Guardian. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  10. He saved someone's life so he deserved it.Dnipro footballer Kankava was given an award for saving Husyev Archived 21 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Ukrinform. 14 April 2014
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