Georgi Kinkladze - Early Life

Early Life

Georgi Kinkladze was born on 6 July 1973 in Tbilisi, Georgia, which was then part of the Soviet Union. As a child, he lived in the Didube district of the city with his father, Robinzon (an engineer), his mother Khatuna (a teacher) and his elder sister. Robinzon was keen to see his son succeed as a footballer, sometimes making him walk around the family home on his knees to strengthen his legs, and enrolled him for Dinamo Tbilisi's junior side when he was six years old. Khatuna disapproved of some of her husband's methods, instead taking Georgi to lessons in mtiuluri, a traditional Georgian ballet. Over the next few years, Kinkladze played in Dinamo Tbilisi's youth teams, progressing as far as the reserve team, where he played alongside Shota Arveladze, who would later become his team-mate at both senior and international level.