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In a country with less than four million inhabitants, they are considered national heroes. In the group at the European Championship, they defeated the strong Portuguese, left the Czech Republic behind and celebrated a historic advance to the round of 16. And apart from the fame, they will also get a nice package. Georgian football players can double the unexpected financial reward from billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili to more than 21 million dollars. It is enough to fulfill such a detail: eliminate the Spaniards who are playing well on Sunday.
Former Georgian Prime Minister Ivanishvili, who founded the ruling Georgian Dream party and is now its honorary chairman, offered 30 million Georgian lari ($10.7 million) ahead of the tournament on the condition that Georgia reach the knockout stage. And when Manchaft shocked with a 2-0 win over Ronaldo and co., it increased the motivation even more. He said for Imedi TV that he will throw in the same amount for the scalp of Spain.
Euro 2024 schedule and results
Ivanishvili’s fortune was estimated by Forbes at 4.9 billion dollars in 2023, which is almost a third of Georgia’s GDP. He earned most of his money in Russia, to which he is still close, after all, the oligarch also owns a Russian and a French passport. In his palace on the hill above Tbilisi, he can also attract a collection of paintings by Monet and Renoir.
Historic achievement
The win over Portugal and in addition to the Euro was something extraordinary for the Georgian team. “This is the best day of my life,” said Chviča Kvaracchelija, the team’s star and Italian champion with Napoli. “Achieving success with the Georgian national team was more difficult than with Napoli, so I appreciate it even more. Nobody would have thought we could beat Portugal. We rewrote history.”
The 23-year-old striker was named man of the match, but left the credit to his team-mates: “There was no best player on the pitch. It was a team effort,” he said.
Carriers for the Euro
Photo: List of News
Water carriers
Kvaracchelija thoroughly enjoyed the special match against his childhood role model Cristiano Ronaldo. “Before the match, he came to me and wished me good luck. I never even dreamed of something like this, it was an amazing moment,” he confessed. “That is why he is such a personality as a footballer and as a person. At that moment I realized that we can do something big, it encouraged and motivated all of us,” added the Dinamo Tbilisi graduate, who took a photo with Ronaldo as a boy and now they have exchanged jerseys.
It will be recalled that Georgia slipped into its first major tournament in history only after a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the play-off against Greece. It was already a historic achievement for the Transcaucasian country.
Georgian arms
What to look for behind the upheaval in Georgian soccer? The French – coach Willy Sagnolo, a former full-back who played in the French national team and Bayern Munich.
“Georgia was playing to make history and we were no match for them. But I was surprised that they kept up such a high pace until almost the end. Their coach did a great job,” Portuguese coach Martínez praised his counterpart.
He just struggled to find the words. “I don’t even know what to say, it’s like a dream. We’ll probably realize it later. I didn’t want to believe it until the referee blew the whistle, at the end we were checking the time every ten seconds. As a coach, I am happy and proud of my team,” said Sagnol. “Before the match, I told the players to play like they were sixteen or seventeen years old. Without nerves, they followed the plan in defense and simply played football in attack.
Advancing from the group where, in addition to the Portuguese, they also met the Turks (1:3) and the Czechs (1:1) was not even part of the Georgian plan, but a big thing was achieved. “We have nothing to lose, absolutely. Our goal was to gain experience from the championship. I like Georgia a lot, but I didn’t expect us to win our debut tournament. It was very important for the players to get a taste of what the highest level of football is like. We have a lot to learn, but it will help Georgia in the future,” explained Sagnol before the sensational advance to the next stage.
Life match – football special Seznam Správ
Photo: List of News, Shutterstock.com
Life match
During the European Football Championship, it is appropriate to recall some absolutely exceptional performances of Czech and Czechoslovakian football players, which were written down in the history of not only our football at the European championships. There are a lot of players who have experienced a very special day in the national jersey that will never be forgotten. In the Life Match special, we remind the notorious ones, but also the somewhat forgotten ones.
And the football world is learning to pronounce more neck-breaking names. For example, Georges Mikautadze (23); he scored in all three matches at the Euros and leads the scorers’ table. He was born in France to a Georgian mother and father. In the previous season, with 23 goals, he was the best scorer and player of the second league in Metá and significantly participated in the promotion; he chose Ajax over a number of offers last summer but failed to make the cut and returned on loan to the Met, where he found form again.
However, goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who caught the attention of the Czech Republic, showed an even more brilliant performance. The 23-year-old Valencia goalkeeper is also one of the best in the Spanish competition, and not only Newcastle are bidding for him. After all, he had already almost agreed on a contract with Bayern a year ago, he was even already choosing a house in Munich, but in the end, 35 million euros (approximately 873 million crowns) seemed too much to the Bavarian giant.
“Error. He would certainly be a worthy successor to Manuel Neuer. They didn’t get a very, very good goaltender. Good players who will win you titles cost more than 35 million,” criticized Bayern’s world and European champion Lothar Matthäus.
On Sunday, after the Czechs and the Portuguese, Mamardashvili will also try to keep the well-known Spanish bullfighters at bay. They ran into each other already in the qualification and the collision was overwhelming. Spain won 3:1 at home and even 7:1 in Georgia. “We respect their strength, they are one of the best teams in the world. But we proved to ourselves against Portugal that you can play with anyone,” believes Kvaracchelija.
“We didn’t even look at who we would play in the event of promotion. The Spanish are another big challenge. But the advantage for us is that no one expects anything from us, we have nothing to lose,” repeated Sagnol.
It depends. There’s enough in the bank. Not only thanks to Ivanishvili’s generous contribution.
