Georgia advanced to the round of 16 at Euro 2024 after pulling off the largest victory in their history, surprising Portugal with a well-earned 2-0 victory. Two minutes in, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored, and then, with a penalty kick in the second half, Georges Mikautadze gave the tournament newcomers a startling victory that advanced them as one of the top three-place teams. Portugal lost, although they were still the winners of Group F.
Georgia qualified for the Euro 2024 knockout stages in their first-ever international event, defeating Portugal 2-0 in Gelsenkirchen. After just 93 seconds of play, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of Napoli gave the Crusaders the lead. Antonio Silva’s careless pass put Georges Mikautadze in danger.
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In the second half, Mikautadze scored his third goal of the competition, a crisp penalty kick after Silva was again at fault for taking down Luca Lochoshvili. This gave Georgia a 2-0 lead.
Portugal leads Group F going into this evening’s match, so Roberto Martinez won’t be too worried about his eight-man lineup from the team that defeated Turkey 3-0. As one of the top third-placed teams, Willy Sagnol’s team advances to the round of 16, where they will now play Spain, while Portugal will play Slovenia.
Georgia was expected to be eliminated with a loss after their previous match, a 1-1 tie with the Czech Republic and a 3-1 loss to Turkey, but they had the ideal start.
The Crusaders had the first opportunity to touch the ball after Silva’s careless pass inside, but they immediately broke through, and Kvaratskhelia’s left-footed strike easily beat Diogo Costa and found the bottom right spot.
Sagnol’s team sat in a low block, making it much more difficult to break them down than in their previous games, while Portugal was unable to produce any truly outstanding play. In the first half, they had their finest chance when Giorgi Gvelesiani spectacularly blocked Cristiano Ronaldo’s attempt after a deft reverse ball from Joao Palhinha appeared to have released the Brazilian.
It was anticipated that Georgia would defend even more in the second half, but ten minutes into the half, Silva took down Lochoshvili, setting Makautadze up for his second tournament penalty. The forward for the Metz team got a goal in every one of Georgia’s 3 group games, making him the tournament’s top scorer.
With the exception of two long-range attempts by Diogo Dalot, the 2016 winners had a careless and sluggish second half and needed extra time to finally open the scoring against the Crusaders. After two minutes, Martinez’s team had two opportunities, with Francisco Conceicao’s low-driven effort going just wide of the post.
However, Sagnol’s team earned the win because they played solid defense in a compact block, looked threatening on the counter, and applied pressure when it was needed. Portugal is eager for players who were granted a complete rest prior to the round of 16, such as Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, and Ruben Dias, to return.
Speaking Point: Vatrathkhelia gives the crusaders a lift-off, signaling a dream start for Georgia.
Prior to Georgia’s opening possession, Portugal had possession for ninety seconds. During that time, Sagnol’s team adopted a compact 5-3-2 formation, making his game plan clear.
The team speech from the previous Champions League champion would have been something like “sit deep, endure the pressure while obtaining an opportunity if the opportunity arises our way.”
Just over a minute into the game, the Crusaders weren’t expecting this opportunity to emerge from their first move, but the combination of both center forwards as well as the clinical finish demonstrated a team full of belief, confidence, and most crucially, quality.
Thanks to the hold-up play and intensity of Kvaratskhelia and Mikautadze, Georgia looked strong defensively and remained dangerous on the counterattack.
Sagnol will be confident after this effort that his team has discovered a formula and is clicking ahead of their match against Spain, who are the only team to have a perfect record through the group stage.
Player of the match: Georgia’s Khvicha Karatsheliani
The Napoli striker not only scored a goal in spectacular style, but he also posed a persistent danger for the entire ninety minutes and had the opportunity to increase his total when the ball dropped to him twelve yards away in the second half. The 23-year-old didn’t just pose a threat with his goals; he also did a great job holding the ball up to give his team respite from the Portuguese pressure. At one point, he even dribbled past four players to win the free kick.
RATINGS OF PLAYERS
Georgia: Mamardashvili 8, Gvelesiani 8, Kashia 8, Dvali 7, Lochoshvili 7, Chakvetadze 8, Kochorashvili 7, Kiteishvili 6, Kakabdaze 7, Mikautadze 8, Kvaratskhelia 9*. Subs: Davitashvili 6, Mekvabishvili 5, Kvirkvelia 6, Tsitaishvili 6.
Portugal’s starting lineup consists of Costa, Pereira, Silva, Inacio, Dalot, Palhinha, Neves, Neto, Conceicao, Felix, and Ronaldo. Neves4, Ramos5, Semedo5, Jota6, Nunes 5 are the substitutes.
MATCH SUMMARY
90+3′ – PORTUGAL’S BEST HALFTIME CHANCE: Conceicao shoots with minimal effort towards the target. Despite Jota’s best efforts, the ball misses the far post by a small margin. How that got through is beyond me.
57′ – SCOOP! Portugal 2-0 Georgia: (Mikautadze) With poise, Mikautadze takes the penalty and moves it to Costa’s left. The goalie goes in the correct direction, but it’s nicely tucked into the corner.
Georgia is given a penalty at 55′: The referee is instructed to go check Silva’s challenge on Lochoshvili. The referee signals the spot after the Portuguese defender makes a small contact with the Georgian player.
BIG CHANCE FOR GEORGIA AT 52′: The ball is dragged back towards Mikautadze, who misses it, but it finds Kvaratskhelia in the middle of the box, who fluffs his lines as well as scuffs it into Costa’s arms.
2′ – SCOOP! Portugal 0–1 Georgia: (Kvaratskhelia) After Silva makes a careless pass, Kvaratskheilia runs through to head his own goal with a left-footed shot into the bottom precisely quadrant of the net for Georgia.
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