Guram Kashia
Guram Kashia (, ; born 4 July 1987) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains the Georgian national team. On a club level, he currently competes for Slovan Bratislava in the Fortuna Liga. Developed at Dinamo Tbilisi, he spent most of his career at Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse, where he was captain. In eight years in the Netherlands, he played 292 official matches (24 goals) and won the KNVB Cup in 2017. Club career. Dinamo Tbilisi. Kashia started playing for Dinamo Tbilisi. He is still a big fan of his former club. Vitesse . In 2010, Kashia moved to the Netherlands and signed for Vitesse. Kashia soon became a regular member of the starting line-up of the club and two seasons after joining, Kashia was elected as the captain of the club. During his career at Vitesse, he amassed a total of 292 matches. In August 2015, Kashia was named Best Player of August in Eredivisie. Kashia led Vitesse to the domestic KNVB Cup in 2016–17, starting all but one of their six games and recording a goal and an assist. In his five starts, the club outscored their opponents 12–2, including a  2–0 victory over eventual league champions Feyenoord Rotterdam in the quarterfinals. In October 2017, Kashia wore a rainbow-striped captain's armband for Vitesse against Heracles Almelo in support of LGBT rights, leading to a backlash in his own country and calls for him to step down from the Georgian national team. His name was also transliterated as "Goeram Kasjia" in Dutch. San Jose Earthquakes. On 14 June 2018, Kashia joined Major League Soccer side San Jose Earthquakes on a multi-year contract, joining compatriot and close friend Vako Qazaishvili. San Jose declined their contract option on Kashia following their  2020 season. International career. Kashia made his Georgia debut on 1 April 2009 against Montenegro. In October 2012, he scored Georgia's only goal against Finland in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. Kashia was named Georgian Footballer of the Year twice, in 2012 and in 2013. , Kashia captains his country. Personal life. Kashia is from Tbilisi, Georgia. He married his wife Tamtuka in 2009, and their daughter Alessandra was born in 2013. His older brother Shota is also a professional footballer and has played at Georgian Erovnuli Liga club FC Chikhura Sachkhere since 2013; both brothers wear #37 for their  clubs. Kashia has stated that his older brother is the reason he began playing football as a child. In August 2018, he became the inaugural recipient of UEFA's #EqualGame award for his pro-LGBT rights stand in 2017 with Vitesse. He was unable to attend the awards ceremony in Monaco due to his club commitments with San Jose, but submitted a video acceptance speech in which he said, "I believe in equality for everyone, no matter what you believe in, who you love or who you are...I will always keep defending equality and equal rights for everyone, wherever  I will play." In December 2018, he received the Presidential Order of Excellence from Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili. He is outspoken about the ongoing illegal Russian occupation of Georgia following the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Kashia obtained his U.S. green card in July 2019, qualifying him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes. Honours. Dinamo Tbilisi Vitesse Slovan Bratislava Individual