About a year and a half ago, Dirk Schuster embarked on an adventure in Georgia—and now he’s reaping the first rewards, as the 58-year-old has won the first title of his career.
Stuttgart, Darmstadt 98, FC Augsburg, Erzgebirge Aue, and Kaiserslautern—Dirk Schuster spent many years working in Germany, gaining experience ranging from the Bundesliga to the Regionalliga. After his departure from FCK in November 2023, however, things quieted down for the coach, who then set off for Georgia in February 2025. In the Caucasus, he is at the helm of Torpedo Kutaisi and celebrated the first title of his coaching career with the club.
In the league, which is played throughout the calendar year in Georgia, Schuster and Torpedo currently sit in 4th place, a full seven points behind league leaders and defending champions Iberia from Tbilisi. There was still cause for celebration, however, as Torpedo won the domestic Super Cup, which is highly regarded in the country. In this tournament, the top four teams from the previous year face off in knockout matches. Kutaisi had prevailed in the semifinals against runner-up Dila Gori, winning 1–0. Iberia awaited them in the final.
Title as Confirmation of Their Work
Schuster and his team went into the match as underdogs, but they proved to be a tough nut to crack and held the favorites to a 2–2 draw after 90 minutes. The match therefore had to be decided in a penalty shootout—and in that shootout, Nika Sikharulashvili was the unlucky one. The 22-year-old missed his shot, and Torpedo won 6–5 in the shootout.
“The Super Cup is a testament to this work,” said a satisfied Schuster after the final whistle, adding: “I’m very happy that we’ve won our first title here in Georgia. That makes us very proud. You can see how we’ve continued to develop the team and the young players over time.”
For Schuster, who has a close confidant by his side in Kutaisi—where the team last celebrated the championship in 2017—in the form of his longtime assistant Sascha Franz, this success is likely a welcome relief, as things haven’t been going so well on the field lately. Just one point from four games led to a drop from second to fourth place. But the season in Georgia is still long—there are twelve matchdays left to play—so there’s plenty of time to get back on track.
For now, though, the focus is on the Conference League, where they’ll face FK Zira from Azerbaijan in the qualifying round. The first leg takes place on the road next Wednesday (6 p.m.), followed by the second leg a week later on Thursday (6 p.m.)
