June 27 – Suddenly, everyone now has Georgia on their minds.
Having tried and failed 14 times to qualify for a major tournament since becoming independent, Willy Sagnol’s team made history in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday night with a 2-0 win over Portugal, the 2016 champions, that tore up the script and secured a memorable last-16 spot against Spain.
So after the greatest upset in Euros history in terms of rankings, there was only really one question to ask the charismatic Sagnol. How on earth did a side ranked 74th beat a team 68 places higher?
“When you’re the ‘small team’ in the competition, you know you have nothing to lose,” was Sagnol’s simple explanation. “But It’s still difficult to realise what we have done. It will probably happen when we will lose, and when we will go back to our homes and on holidays.”
“Today I don’t have a lot of words so I will try to stay basic and say that I’m so proud of the players because what an image they have shown of Georgia today… I feel very proud to be their manager.”
The euphoric post-match celebrations, when substitutes and staff rushed off the bench at the final whistle to sing and dance with supporters in the stands, will live long in the memory.
Sagnol, the former France and Bayern Munich full-back who played in the 2006 World Cup, had already become a living legend in Georgia when they secured qualification for Euro 2024 through the Nations League, beating Greece on penalties in the playoffs.
But this was on another level, writing a new chapter as they caught their illustrious opponents cold after just 93 seconds and went on to play with no fear.
“The only thing we said before the competition is whatever happened, we don’t want any regrets after the competition, the regret of maybe not having played our football or maybe not having enjoyed the competition as much as we should have done,” said Sagnol.
“So, you have no weight on your shoulders. It’s difficult when you’re France, when you’re England, when you’re Spain, when you’re Portugal, because you’re under pressure, because people expect you to win.”
“The only responsibility we had was to make the Georgian nation proud of their players. And I think we’ve done it the best way.”
Georgia were technically superb, led by man of the match Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who plays his club football for Naples. Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was equally inspired, pulling off a world-class save just moments before Georgia’s decisive penalty, awarded after a VAR check. But to a man, they fought magnificently, frustrating Portugal to the point where even a petulant Cristiano Ronaldo, having earlier been booked for dissent after appealing for a penalty, was substituted late on.
“When you look at our bench, it’s not the most exciting in terms of football quality – but it is in terms of human quality,” Sagnol said. “I’m very, very happy. I thought qualifying was our maximum but football is never written before. We didn’t even try to think before the match if we would win or if we would maybe play against this or that team because we don’t think like that, we just take things as they come.”
In the game’s dying minutes, Sagnol said he checked the clock “about every 10 seconds” until the final whistle blew. He said his pre-game message had been: “Play your football, keep discipline when you don’t have the ball and when you have it, just play. And I think they did it brilliantly today, above all expectations.”
Kvaratskhelia, known as Georgia’s ‘Kvaradonna’ who had swept them in front early doors, had no doubt of the result’s magnitude. “This the best day in the lives of Georgians,” he said, adding that he is also the proud possessor of Ronaldo’s shirt handed to him after the game.
“Everyone is so happy and we just made history, nobody would believe that we would make it happen and we would defeat Portugal,” he added.
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, whose team had already qualified for the knockout stage, made eight changes to his starting line-up but that should take nothing away from Georgia’s stunning win against a country with immense strength in depth.
Martinez, who defended his decision to leave out several regulars to give his squad some important match practise, was extremely gracious in defeat. “Georgia deserve the credit today. This was a game where Georgia was playing to be part of history and we didn’t match their intensity. Georgia showed incredible belief.”
You bet they did. And next up Spain.
“Spain is probably the best team of the first round so it’s another big challenge for us,” said Sagnol. “For sure we’re going to fight to the last minute as we have done since the beginning of the competition.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1719769917labto1719769917ofdlr1719769917owedi1719769917sni@w1719769917ahsra1719769917w.wer1719769917dna1719769917