Zaza Zamtaradze’s team showed good results in the first round and it was considered as one of the aspirants for the title of the Champion of Georgia. The head coach of the team is striving to create an efficient team and he does not care about the ranking.
- How can you evaluate the preparation period?
- The training camp was rather productive. We had friendly matches against strong opponents. We played against Russian FC Terek, FC Sherif from Titraspol and FC Jeju United from South Korea. It is true that we did not manage to win none of the games, but we do know about our weak points now. Frankly speaking we are lagging behind these teams.
- And wherein are you lagging behind – in physical training or in technical matters?
- I think it is wrong to evaluate the physical shape of the players during the preparatory period. As far as the technical skills are concerned we will have to work hard to overcome this lagging.
- FC Samtredia is a well-staffed team, but you are behind the leader by four points. So, your task now is to qualify for the title of the champion during the next round…
- Our task is to create a competitive team which will play a true football. So, the title of the champion is not so important for us at the current stage, but we will try to be promoted in the ranking list.
- I think you will agree that there is a rather big competition in this season.
- It is true… The current championship differs much from the previous ones. It is clear now that FC Dinamo Tbilisi, FC Dila Gori and FC Samtridia will qualify to get the highest ranking. I am also sure that FC Chikhura will much improve its game style… and the same situation is with the FC Dinamo Batumi and FC Tskhinvali. In previous years only few teams had a chance to go for a training camp abroad and today 12 clubs out of 16 managed to go to Turkey for training. The current championship is extremely tense and that means that the Georgian teams will show better results at the coming European tournaments.
- What results can you predict for the FC Samtredia at the forthcoming European Championship this season?
- We must be qualified for the European tournaments first and only after that we can discuss it…Unfortunately, only FC Dinamo Tbilisi managed to qualify for the second round of the UEFA Cup in 2004.We are very disappointed by the results of our teams as long as the football clubs from Moldova, Byelorussia and Azerbajan regularly participate in these events.
- You are taking part in the Georgian Cup in parallel to the Championship of Georgia and FC Torpedo Kutaisi will be your opponent at the next quarter finals.
- FC Torpedo has a big history, good traditions and dedicated fans. They lost many points in the first round and now they have the only chance to participate in the European tournaments by winning the Georgian Cup. Proceeding from the aforesaid we will have two extremely difficult matches against FC Torpedo Kutaisi but we must win.
Paata Dzneladze