Mamuka Pantsulaia ( ka, მამუკა ფანცულაია; 9 October 1967 – 26 February 2019) was a Georgian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a forward and made one appearance for the Georgia national team.

Career

Pantsulaia played for the Soviet Union under-16 national team in 1985, helping the team to win the 1985 UEFA European Under-16 Championship with two goals in the final. He was named the best player of the tournament. In total, he scored 8 goals in 17 matches for the Soviet youth teams. He earned his first and only cap for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on 27 May 1990 in the country's first international match, a friendly against Lithuania. He started the match, but was substituted out at half-time for Gocha Gogrichiani. The home fixture, which took place in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

, finished as a 2–2 draw. Pantsulaia played for

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany 2–1 ...

in the

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига), served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The professional top level ...

from 1985 to 1989, and for Torpedo Kutaisi in the

Soviet First League The Soviet First League in football (russian: Первая лига СССР по футболу) was the second highest division of Soviet football,Evgeni Kazakov. The Soviet First Football League (Первая лига СССР по футбо ...

in 1989. Georgia began its own league, the

Umaglesi Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა - lit. National League) is the top division of professional football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football ...

, in 1990 after the founding of the

Georgian Football Federation The Georgian Football Federation ( GFF; ka, საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია, ''sakartvelos pekhburtis pederatsia'') was founded in 1936. Based in Tbilisi, it was part of the Football Fede ...

, with Pantsulaia playing for Metallurgi Rustavi (originally Gorda Rustavi), Shevardeni-1906 Tbilisi and Odishi Zugdidi. He was the top scorer, along with Gia Guruli, of the league's first season in 1990 with 23 goals. In 1991, he was given a one-year suspension after arguing with a referee. After retiring from football, he later became a coach of the Olimpi Rustavi youth academy, helping to train players including

Tornike Okriashvili Tornike Okriashvili (, , born 12 February 1992) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays for Gagra and the Georgia national team. He plays mainly as an attacking midfielder but also can play as a winger. Club career He signed with Russi ...

Personal life

Pantsulaia's son, Giorgi, is also a footballer and appeared for the Georgia youth national teams. Pantsulaia died on 26 February 2019.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Soviet Union U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Individual *

player of the tournament:

* Master of Sport of the USSR: 1985 *

top scorer:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pantsulaia, Mamuka 1967 births 2019 deaths Footballers from Tbilisi Soviet footballers Footballers from Georgia (country) Soviet Union youth international footballers Georgia (country) international footballers Association football forwards FC Dinamo Tbilisi players FC Torpedo Kutaisi players FC Metalurgi Rustavi players FC Shevardeni-1906 Tbilisi players FC Zugdidi players Soviet Top League players Soviet First League players Erovnuli Liga players Football managers from Georgia (country)