The best player of all time, captain of The Lelos Mamuka Gorgodze is leaving the national team.

He made this difficult decision after a year of thinking:

"I was going to leave the team after the 2015 World Cup, but I was asked to stay. But after all, I thought about this issue and got the final decision! I have repeatedly said: I want to make fans remember me well and I feel the time has come.

"I am 33 years old and will be 35 at the World Cup in 2019. I see that I am at the age and the tiredness will not decrease, but will increase even more. I was advised to prepare only for the World Cup, to play important games, but for me it is unacceptable! The captain must be together with the team, otherwise, you cannot be the captain.

"I have not lack of health or desire, but I cannot afford such loads. If that could be possible, I would have chosen the team but without play I will not be useful for the team, I cannot play only for the national team.

“The team will lack me, but nobody is unchangeable. The Georgian national team really has good guys in the third line. I decided to announce my decision 2 years earlier before the World Cup, because the team starts preparation and I do not want to interrupt coaches”, - said Mamuka Gorgodze.

Gorgodze played the first match for the national team against Spain on February 22, 2003, after which he became the unchanged leader.

He took part in three World Cups – 2007, 2011 and 2015 and became the best player of the match 4 times: in 2011 against England and Romania, in 2015 against Tonga and New Zealand. He was the captain of The Lelos at 2015 World Cup and Georgia has achieved a historic result – by winning two matches (over Tonga and Namibia) they took the third place in the group and won the right to play at World Cup 2019.