# Timur Kapadze

Timur Kapadze (Uzbek: Temur Kapadze; Russian: Тимур Тахирович Кападзе; Turkish: Timur Kapadze, Georgian: თემურ კაპაძე) is an Uzbekistani former professional football midfielder of Ahiska-Turkish descent. He is currently the head coach of the Uzbekistan national football team.

## Early life

Of Turkish Meskhetian descent, he is the son of Takhir Kapadze — a football coach and was a pupil of Ferghan football, the city of his relatives. Takhir Kapadze came from a family of Georgian Turks who suffered forced deportation by the Soviet authorities to Central Asia during the World War II.

## Club career

He began his professional career in 1998 as a member of Neftchi Ferghana. He played for Neftchi Ferghana to the end of 2001. During this time, the signal part of the club's 14 matches and managed to score two goals. Together with Neftchi Ferghana, he won the gold medals of the Uzbekistan Higher League in 2001, and in the season of 1998, 1999 and 2000 silver medals of the country championship.
In 2002 he moved to Pakhtakor from Tashkent. Together with the Tashkent club six consecutive seasons Uzbekistan champions, and also won six consecutive season Uzbekistan Cups. In 2007, Pakhtakor won the Commonwealth Champions Cup. In addition, in 2003 and 2004 he reached the AFC Champions League semi-finals with Pakhtakor. Until the end of 2007 he played for Pakhtakor, and was one of its leaders. In total, he played 152 matches in Pakhtakor and scored 28 goals.
In early 2008, he joined the new giant of Uzbekistan football — Bunyodkor. As player of Bunyodkor Kapadze also became one of the leaders of the team. In those years, Bunyodkor was able to attract the strongest players of his sworn rival - Pakhtakor, in addition to Timur Kapadze, players such as Server Djeparov, Ignatiy Nesterov and Anzur Ismailov, as well as a number of foreign legionaries, such as Brazilians Rivaldo and other Brazilians players. With Bunyodkor Kapadze three consecutive seasons they became the champion of Uzbekistan, twice won the Uzbekistan Cup, and once won silver medals of the Uzbekistan Cup. In addition, in 2008 he reached the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League. He played for Bunyodkor until the end of 2010, and during this time he played for the club 70 games and scored 11 goals.
In February 2011, Timur Kapadze moved to South Korean Incheon United, which he played until the end of the season. He played 28 matches and scored four goals. In January 2012 he moved to the club from UAE — Al Sharjah, where he played until June of the same year. During this time he played for the UAE club only nine times.
In June 2012 he moved to Aktobe from Kazakhstan, and played for the club until the end of 2014. As part of Aktobe in 2013 became the champion of Kazakhstan, and in 2014 won the silver medal of the championship of Kazakhstan. In addition, in 2014 he won the Kazakhstan Super Cup.
In January 2015 he returned to Uzbekistan, and has signed a contract with Lokomotiv Tashkent. Together with the Lokomotiv Tashkent two consecutive seasons (2016 and 2017) became the champion of Uzbekistan, and in the season of 2015 won silver medals of the championship of Uzbekistan. Also in 2016 and 2017 won the Uzbekistan Cup, and in 2015 the Uzbekistan Super Cup.
He played for Lokomotiv Tashkent until the end of 2017. In the fall of 2017, he announced the end of his career as a football player at end of the 2017 season. During Kapadze's performance in Lokomotiv Tashkent, he was his captain. The farewell match of Timur Kapadze took place on 4 December 2017 in the final of the Uzbekistan Cup, in which Lokomotiv Tashkent and Bunyodkor met. The match ended with a score of 1: 0 in favor of Lokomotiv Tashkent. The match was attended by a number of football and sports officials and specialists of Uzbekistan, in particular the President of the Uzbekistan Football Federation Umid Ahmadjanov, as well as the President of the AFC — Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa.
At the end of his career as a football player, he announced his transition to coaching. On 15 February 2018 Kapadze was appointed interim head coach of the Uzbekistan national team. He held this position until Héctor Cúper has taken over as head coach in August 2018.

## International career

From 2002 to 2015 Timur Kapadze played for the Uzbekistan national team and had participated in four AFC Asian Cup, which is so far, the only Georgian-born player to have competed in international tournaments. His debut match for the national team played on 14 May 2002 in a friendly match against Slovakia. His first goal for the national team of Uzbekistan was scored on 17 November 2003 in the match against Tajikistan. In a short time, Timur Kapadze became one of the leaders of the national team.
He took part with the national team in four final tournaments of the AFC Asian Cup. In 2004, the tournament played four matches (Uzbekistan team reached the quarterfinals), in 2007 — played four matches and scored two goals (Uzbekistan team also reached the quarterfinals), in the Asian Cup in 2011 played six matches and became a semi-finalist of the tournament. In the Asian Cup 2015 played two matches, and the national team of Uzbekistan stopped at the quarterfinals.
Long was the best guard his team from 119 matches, before he was ahead of the Server Jeparov. In addition, Timur Kapadze was one of the Vice-captains of the national team of Uzbekistan, and even in some matches went out on the field with a captain's armband.

## Honours
### Club
#### Neftchi

* Uzbekistan Super League (1): 2001
* Uzbekistan Super League runners-up (3): 1998, 1999, 2000

#### Pakhtakor

* Uzbekistan Super League (6): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
* Uzbekistan Cup (6): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
* CIS cup: 2007
* AFC Champions League semi-final (2): 2003, 2004

#### Bunyodkor

* Uzbekistan Super League (3): 2008, 2009, 2010
* Uzbekistan Cup (2): 2008, 2010
* AFC Champions League semi-final (1): 2008

#### Aktobe

* Kazakhstan Premier League (1): 2013
* Kazakhstan Premier League runners-up (1): 2014
* Kazakhstan Super Cup (1): 2014

#### Lokomotiv

* Uzbekistan Super League (2) 2016, 2017
* Uzbekistan Cup (2) 2016, 2017
* Uzbekistan Super Cup (1): 2014

### National team

* AFC Asian Cup semi-final: 2011

### Manager

Uzbekistan U23
* AFC U-23 Asian Cup runner-up: (2)2022, 2024

#### Individual

* Uzbekistan Football Coach of the Year: 2022, 2024

## Career statistics
### International goals

    Scores and results list Uzbekistan's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1. | 17 November 2003 | Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand | Tajikistan | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| 2. | 14 July 2007 | National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Malaysia | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2007 AFC Asian Cup |
| 3. | 18 July 2007 | Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia | China | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2007 AFC Asian Cup |
| 4. | 13 October 2007 | Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan | Chinese Taipei | 3–0 | 9–0 | World Cup qualifier |
| 5. | 26 March 2008 | Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan | Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | 3–0 | World Cup qualifier |
| 6. | 2 June 2008 | National Stadium, Singapore, Singapore | Singapore | 1–0 | 7–3 | World Cup qualifier |
| 7. | 18 November 2009 | National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Malaysia | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| 8. | 11 November 2011 | Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan | North Korea | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9. | 13 August 2012 | Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan | Jordan | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 10. | 14 October 2014 | Dubai Club Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | United Arab Emirates | 1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |