Vitaly Daraselia is a football player whom everyone in Georgia remembers and honors because he did a lot for the USSR national team and Dynamo Tbilisi before he died unexpectedly. Who knows what success he could have achieved if he had played a full football career? But even in the short time that was allotted to him, Vitaly Daraselia was able to achieve incredible results.
Amirani
Vitaly Daraselia was born in 1957 in the city of Ochamchira, where he began to play football at the school of the club of the same name. Very little is known about his performances for this club - besides the fact that at the age of 16 he already managed to break through to the base, thanks to which he was noticed by one of the largest and strongest clubs in the Soviet Union - Tbilisi Dynamo. And at the age of 17, Vitaly Daraselia already moved to a new club, where he quickly began to gain his place at the base, and at the same time respect and admiration.
Dynamo (Tbilisi)
So, in 1975, a new star appeared on the Soviet football horizon - the central midfielder Vitaly Daraselia. The footballer quickly got accustomed to the new club and won a place in the first team. Very quickly, the young player became a key player in Dynamo, which led to the fact that in seven years he played 192 matches at the club, scoring 26 goals - a pretty impressive indicator for a midfield player who, moreover, often performed defensive functions.
In 1976, he helped his club win the USSR Cup, next year Dynamo was not enough to win the USSR Championship, but in 1978 everything fell into place, and Daraselia, who reached the peak of his form, helped the club win the championship and the next year and repeat the success of 1976 - to win the USSR Cup a second time.
From 1978 to 1982, Vitaly Kukhinovich Daraselia was included in the list of 33 best football players of the year in the world five times in a row. But his most important achievement, which made the player a true legend, happened in 1981 - it was then that Dynamo Tbilisi won the Cup Cup, the most prestigious club tournament of the time. Outstanding was the fact that it was Daraselia who brought his club a victory and a trophy, scoring a decisive goal three minutes before the end of the match.
Career in the USSR national team
Naturally, such a talent did not go unnoticed, and despite the fact that the USSR was simply huge and, accordingly, had an incredible choice of players, Daraselia was called up to the team in 1979 at the age of 21. For four years, the midfielder managed to play 22 matches, in which he scored three goals. But before that, Daraselia became the European champion in the youth team of the USSR in 1976, and after that he achieved the same result in 1980 with the youth team of the USSR. In 1982, he went with his national team to the World Cup, which was unsuccessful for the USSR - the national team entered the second group stage, where they missed the chance to reach the semifinals, conceiving Poland solely by the difference in goals scored and the goals conceded - the Soviet Union tied with Poland, but beat Belgium only 1-0, while the Poles defeated the Belgians 3-0. This tournament, unfortunately, was the last for the ingenious Georgian midfielder.
Tragic death
In 1982, FC Dynamo (Tbilisi) and the USSR team lost one of the most talented midfielders in history. At the age of 25, he died tragically. Vitaly bought a new car, which he decided to test in extreme conditions - driving through the mountains in Zestafoni. An experienced instructor rode along with Vitaly, who ensured his safety on narrow mountain routes. Everything went well until at one point Vitaly lost control, the car flew off the highway and crashed directly into a mountain river from a great height. The instructor died on the spot, and his body was found in a car. Daraselia only lost consciousness, so it was swept away by a powerful stream of a mountain river - a large number of people were thrown into the search for a football player, and after thirteen days the body of the deceased Vitaly was found. So the world lost one of the most talented players who could help the club and the national team get trophies for a long time, if not for this accident.
Heritage
Daraselia left his son Vitaly, who followed in his father's footsteps and became a football player - today he is 37 years old, he ended his career seven years ago. Vitaly Daraselia, Jr. played as an attacking midfielder, began his career in CSKA Kiev, and then moved to his father’s club, where he spent three years. Then he managed to lose in Russia, Kazakhstan and Romania, and finally returned to Georgia, where he ended his career in 2009. Daraselia Jr. played ten matches for the Georgian national team.