The newcomer among the European elite also celebrated his first victory at a major tournament on Wednesday, taking four points in the group with a draw with the Czech Republic.
In the round of 16, the favored Spain awaits the Georgians, the match will take place on June 30 in Cologne. Portugal will face Slovenia on July 1 in Frankfurt.
“I’m incredibly happy and proud, we did a great job. We believed we could beat the Portuguese. We did it, it’s unbelievable,” said Kvaracchelija, who was named man of the match.
Eight changes in the Portuguese team
Portuguese coach Martínez made eight changes in the lineup compared to the previous duel with Turkey, even for the third time star captain Ronaldo started from the start. The favorite held the ball for the first minute and a half, but conceded immediately after the first loss. Mikautadze caught António Silva’s inaccurate pass, sent Kvaracchelija into the break and he opened the scoring with a cross shot. The Georgians also scored in the third game of the tournament, the offensive support of Naples scored for the first time.
The Portuguese were shaken by the early goal and they only got up to speed slowly. Mamardashvili was first employed by Ronaldo in the 16th minute, whose shot from 30 meters from a free kick was deflected over the crossbar by the Georgian goalkeeper. In the 28th minute, he found Conceicao’s crossed cross at the back post, but he did not follow up on the winning shot from the game against the Czech Republic and only sent the ball into the side net. Moments later, Joao Félix also narrowly missed.
Immediately after the change of sides, Ronaldo had a 100% chance after a corner kick, but his shot from close range was blocked at the last moment by the selfless Dvali. Immediately after, Kvaracchelija could have increased from a rare action, but he himself did not hit the volley cleanly in front of the goalkeeper Costa.
However, the Georgians got their second hit soon after all. In the 54th minute, referee Schärer, following a warning from the video referee, ordered a penalty kick for the intervention of the underdog of the match, António Silva, on Ločošvili. Mikautadze took the ball just like in the match against the Czech national team and placed it exactly at the right post, Costa stretched in vain. The 23-year-old striker scored in all three group matches, becoming the ninth player in history to do so.
Portugal held the ball 67 percent of the time, but after the opponent’s second goal, they did not finish at all. The favorite finished the match in spasms, and the Georgians easily defended the advance result. Mamardashvili did not let either Semed’s attempt at the back post or Dalot’s long-range shot behind him in the set-up. With his teammates, he followed up on the national team’s 21st team, which also defeated the Portuguese team 2:0 at the home European Championship a year ago.
“We started lukewarm and Georgia scored early, which was exactly what they needed. Unfortunately, we were not so accurate in the final phase, and their goalkeeper also showed a great performance. The opponent deserved the victory,” acknowledged the Portuguese coach Roberto Martínez.
2024-06-26 21:03:02
#great #Kvaracchelija #trampled #Portuguese #pushed #Georgia #historic #advance #ČT #sport #Czech #Television
