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 Slovan Bratislava.

Jaba Kankava
Kankava in 2014
Personal information
Full name Jaba Kankava
Date of birth (1986-03-18) 18 March 1986
Place of birth Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Slovan Bratislava
Number 20
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 Dnipropetrovsk 91 (4)
2010–2012 → Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (loan) 37 (2)
2015–2017 Stade Reims 47 (0)
2018–2020 Tobol 76 (4)
2021 Valenciennes 14 (0)
2021– Slovan Bratislava 57 (2)
International career‡
2002–2003 Georgia U17 3 (0)
2003–2004 Georgia U19 5 (0)
2004–2006 Georgia U21 8 (0)
2004–2021 Georgia 100 (10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:56, 27 January 2022 (UTC)

He has previously played for Reims, Dinamo Tbilisi, Alania Vladikavkaz,[1] Arsenal Kyiv, and 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. He won the silver medals of the Ukrainian league in 2014. The next season Kankava played in a dramatic Europa League final against Sevilla,[2] which was his last appearance for the club. In eight years at Dnipro, he played 91 matches and scored 4 goals.

In 2015, Kankava joined Ligue 1 club Reims in a deal worth €1,5 million.[3] During his second season at this club Kankava was three times named the best player of month by popular vote and eventually recognized Player of the Season.[4] In July 2017, he agreed to the termination of his contract which ran until 2018.[5]

On 22 November 2018, Kankava signed a new two-year contract with FC Tobol.[6]

On 16 January 2021, Valenciennes announced the signing of Kankava on a contract until June 2021.[7] Аt the end of this season he joined Fortuna Liga side Slovan Bratislava.[8]

International career

On 8 September 2004, Kankava made his debut for Georgia against Albania in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. Later on, he managed score a goal against Croatia in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, and against Germany in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. On January 27 2022, Kankava announced his retirement from international football after appearing in 100 matches, captaining Georgia 62 times.[9]

Career statistics
As of 30 November 2021
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Georgia 200410
200560
200681
200771
200830
200900
201010
201172
201270
201360
201471
201582
201620
201780
201882
201981
202070
202160
Total10010
Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kankava goal.
List of international goals scored by Jaba Kankava[10]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
11 March 2006Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard, Malta Malta2–02–0Friendly
216 November 2007Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha, Qatar Qatar1–02–1Friendly
33 June 2011Stadion Poljud, Split, Croatia Croatia1–01–2UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
46 September 2011Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard, Malta Malta1–01–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
514 October 2014Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé, Portugal Gibraltar3–03–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
625 March 2015Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia Malta1–02–0Friendly
712 October 2015Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany Germany1–11–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
813 October 2018Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia Andorra3–03–02018–19 UEFA Nations League D
916 October 2018Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia Latvia1–03–02018–19 UEFA Nations League D
1015 October 2019Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar Gibraltar2–03–2UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Dinamo Tbilisi

Dnipro

Tobol

Slovan Bratislava

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.[11] 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.[12]

References
  1. "Zestafoni make their move". UEFA.com. 11 March 2005. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  2. "Dnipro vs Sevilla". uefa.com. 27 May 2015.
  3. "ჯაბა კანკავა "რეიმსში" გადავიდა". fanebi.com (in Georgian). 14 August 2015.
  4. "ფანების აღიარება: კანკავა რეიმსში საუკეთესოა". fortune.ge (in Georgian). 27 May 2017.
  5. "Transferts : Jaba Kankava quitte Reims". L'Équipe (in French). 24 July 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  6. "Тобол продлил отношения с 4 игроками". fctobol.kz (in Russian). FC Tobol. 22 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  7. "Jaba Kankava s'engage avec le VAFC". va-fc.com/ (in French). Valenciennes FC. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  8. "გურამ კაშია და ჯაბა კანკავა ბრატისლავის სლოვანში გადავიდნენ" (in Georgian). 17 June 2021.
  9. "Georgia Football Team Captain Jaba Kankava Retires From International Duty". Georgian Journal.
  10. "Kankava, Jaba". National Football Teams. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  11. "Dnipro's Jaba Kankava saves Kiev captain's life after he swallows tongue". The Guardian. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  12. 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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