Beitar Jerusalem has been one of the most entertaining teams in the Israel Premier League this season. Coach Barak Itzhaki has his side playing top-of-the-line soccer as the club has scored goals galore and is challenging for the championship.
One of the key reasons the yellow-and-black are in second place and just four points behind table-leader Hapoel Beersheba is the addition of central defender Luka Gadrani, who joined the club at the end of September from Kairat Almaty.
Since the 28-year-old moved from the Kazakhstan league to the Holy Land, Beitar has collected one win after the next, while the club’s back line has settled down very nicely, with defensive partner Brayan Carabali reaping the benefits of having Gadrani right next to him on the field of play.
Match after match, Gadrani has been one of the standouts as the Georgian national team defender provides a cool, calm, and collected presence both on and off the pitch.
Due to the war with Iran, some of Beitar’s foreigners stayed in Jerusalem while others traveled down to Eilat. Gadrani was going to stay in Israel for the time being, but when it looked as if the season was going to come to a halt for a number of weeks, the defender requested permission to leave the country and head to Georgia in order to be ready for his national team and their upcoming window of friendly matches at the end of March.
The club had no issue with the reasonable request and allowed Gadrani the chance to return to his homeland.
However, now that it looks as if the Israeli league will restart in two weeks, one week prior to the national team games, he’s headed back to join his teammates down south in Eilat for a week-long training camp to be ready to go when the season gets back underway.
Gadrani speaks to Italian sports newspaper
Just before Gadrani returned, he spoke to Italy’s premier sports newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, which has a Georgian version, about his transfer from Kairat to Beitar, the success he’s been experiencing in the capital city, and much more, as he has become an anchor for the club’s defensive corps while war currently rages on.
“All activities are suspended here until March 12,” Gadrani began. “This country has a lot of experience with situations like this, and you could say they handle everything quite well. I wouldn’t say people are in panic, because as I mentioned, they are used to it.
“Since I’m here in Israel, of course, all of my family members are worried, but I have been trying to calm everyone down. I’m not in a hotspot. The club has also supported us very well and accommodated us near the Egyptian border, where it’s peaceful and possible to train individually.”
Beitar is fighting for the championship, and after 24 rounds of play, the team has 51 points and is in second place.
The beginning of the season saw some inconsistency, but as soon as Gadrani arrived, everything seemed to fall into place, and the club began picking up victories as its play drastically improved.
“Yes, since I moved to Beitar, it so happened that we started winning,” Gadrani commented. “I’m happy that I contributed to that. Besides helping the team, I work every day to be just as useful for my national team and my country.”
Before Gadrani arrived in Israel, he had not been playing after having been a stalwart in the starting lineup. However, the defender explained why that was the case.
“The reason I wasn’t playing at Kairat was injuries. Thank God, after that difficult period, I returned, and after recovering, I’m proving my abilities at Beitar. Kairat is already in the past, and now I’m only thinking about today and the future.”
Beitar had been at the top of the table back in January for a few weeks, but couldn’t hold on to the spot and dropped down to second place, where it is still within striking distance of first place.
“Everything is still ahead of us,” Gadrani explained. “Our goal is to improve from game to game and regain first place. The team’s mentality is to prepare for each specific match, win that match, and not look too far ahead. I really like this approach.”
Recently, a pair of Israelis, Dan Glazer and Ofri Arad, were also playing for Kairat Almaty along with Gadrani, with the latter moving to the Romanian league during the January transfer window. The Georgian spoke about the level of play between the Israeli and Kazakhstan leagues.
“The Israeli league is at a higher level than the Kazakh league. There are better players here, the infrastructure is better, the fans and people’s attitude toward sports are at the highest level. Local players are also fast and technical.”
Gadrani will most likely be a part of the upcoming national team window as Georgia is slated to play a pair of friendlies, one against Israel in Tbilisi, as well as an away fixture at Lithuania, as it begins preparations for the Nations League, which will kick off in the fall against the likes of Northern Ireland, Ukraine, and Hungary.
“I’m preparing and doing everything to get to the international break in good form,” Gadrani said. “The Israeli league is suspended, but I’m training individually and feel good. Everyone says the Georgian national team has problems in defense, and I will try to contribute to solving that problem. In my opinion, the Georgian national team has the ambition and the ability to play successfully against teams like these. The main thing is that everyone is in optimal form. Everyone has seen that the Georgian national team can beat anyone.”
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