Abkhazia Institute for Social and Economic Research

Iashvili invitation
Arveladze's exceptional season at AZ Alkmaar earned him the country's best player award, voted for by football writers and his peers. The 34-year-old's 14 goals in 29 league appearances helped take AZ to within a final-day victory of winning the Dutch title, while his eight UEFA Cup strikes fired AZ into the last eight of the competition. Arveladze also scored five UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying goals before announcing his international retirement. "I'll never play for the national team again," confirmed Georgia's all-time leading marksman. "My place will be taken by Sandro Iashvili and I ask the national coach to invite him to take my No11 shirt."

Leading scorer
Great things are expected of Iashvili, who was named best player in the Umaglesi Liga. A tall, imposing forward, the 22-year-old is strong in the air, blessed with good technique and boasts a powerful shot with both feet. He proved an inspirational presence for FC Dinamo Tbilisi, claiming the domestic golden boot with 21 goals as his team finished second in the top flight. Having started out at FC WIT Georgia, he arrived at Dinamo via FC Tbilisi, while representing Georgia at various levels including the UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign last autumn. After a move to Arveladze's old club Rangers FC collapsed two years ago, he has now completed a transfer to Swiss Super League side FC Thun, securing a three-year contract. "My dream is to play for the national team," said Iashvili. "It will be almost impossible to replace Arveladze, but I'll do everything I can to repay his trust in me."

http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=559224.html