In an interview released previously, the statements of her father and agent yesterday, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia told her colleagues of “The players Tribune” about her experience in Naples at this moment:
“Moving to Napoli was all thanks to my father Badri. His idol was Maradona. My father also played football and as a child I always watched videos of him, for me he was the best in the world, I was 6-7 years old and I said that he was stronger than Messi and Ronaldo. I remember my father taking free kicks very well. I was so impressed with him that I would invite friends over to watch videos of him. But my father always talked to me about Maradona, so when my agent told me that Napoli wanted me I was very happy. It was incredible for my father too: he told me that you couldn’t say no to Napoli, to Maradona’s club! So I didn’t think about it too much, there was no debate. He told me: “you have to go”. I can’t describe the emotions I felt. I told him: “Let’s go! Right away”.
The first days in Naples.
“When I arrived the first thing my teammates asked me was: you have to sing, this is our tradition! All new signings do this. Kim went to sing first and sang Gangnam Style, it was beautiful. I came after him and so there was a lot of pressure, so I chose a song that I sang when I played in Russia at Rubin Kazan. It was cool, no one knew the song. Then I sang “la,la,la,la”, the chorus “Live is Life”. Everyone told me: “You’re smart, you want to impress the Napoli fans”, but I didn’t understand. In the end Mario Rui revealed to me that that song in Naples was made famous by Maradona during his warm-ups at the stadium, but I swear I didn’t know it. But the fans really liked it, but I was lucky.”
The relationship with the city?
“The first days in Naples I see Maradona everywhere. Maradona, Maradona, Maradona. Maradona is the God there. I told my father. He told me: “Let me come to Naples immediately”. At first I went to training by taxi because I didn’t have a car. And later, when I saw how they drive, I said: “I can’t drive here, it’s impossible.” But when I got to the hotel… the view… oh my God. It was the best thing I had ever seen, seriously. Then I go out for a walk around the city, and even seventy-year-olds already know me. Before even playing. People stop me: “You are Kvaratskhelia!”, I say: “Yes, I am!”. I’m a young guy. Coming from Dinamo Batumi. And I have a difficult name. But the grandmothers, the grandfathers, everyone already knew me.”
