Toko Shengelia, the hero of Georgia!

Georgia qualified yesterday for the first time for the FIBA World Cup. In spite of the loss 77-80 to Iceland, the national team of Georgia had reached a historical moment due to great collective work. But this result would not have been possible without the amazing effort did by an extraordinary man: Tornike Shengelia.

I didn’t say player, I said the man! Because he went to play with the national team Thursday in Almere against the Netherlands, then he paid his own flight ticket to be back and play in 24 hours, Friday, in the Euroleague with Virtus Bologna, in Italy against Baskonia. Then, he took another flight to be in Tbilisi to play again Sunday the last game of the World Cup qualifiers against Iceland. 

Normally, the Euroleague players cannot play in the FIBA windows because the Euroleague teams don’t allow them to join their national teams. Shengelia always asked to have this opportunity. When he played for CSKA Moscow, he said he could sign the contract if they allow him to play for Georgia and maybe miss a Euroleague game or two.

So, Shengelia did a huge effort to travel the whole of Europe playing 3 games in 4 days just to be able to represent his country. In the first game against the Netherlands, he was the main scorer with 25 points, in the second game contributed to Virtus’s victory with 12 points and in the last game against Iceland he helped Georgia with 20 points!

So, if you want to be a great player, be like Shengelia: no excuses, no laziness, and no bad days! Only focus to offer the best of you and the best results will come! Motivation is the key!

The article was written by Gratian Cormos, a Romanian journalist, book writer, life coach and mentor currently living in Barcelona, Spain.

 If you are interested in collaborating with his website brainbasketball.net, in order to publish articles, interviews or other features related to basketball, feel free to contact Gratian Cormos by Whatsapp or Telegram at this Spanish number: +34 612414486. 

Photo credit: FIBA

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