Georgia’s feat, beating Portugal 2-0 in the last match of Group F and qualifying as third in the group for the round of 16 of the European Championships.
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THE MATCH
Georgia achieves the feat that few believed: it beats Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal 2-0 and qualifies for the first time in its history for the round of 16 of the European Championships. Thanks to Kvaratskhelia, finally in form for the ‘Naples championship’, and Mikautadze, still scoring and top scorer of the tournament with three goals. But the result is also a demerit for the Portuguese team, who were already certain of qualification before the match, and appeared imprecise and not very determined. The Georgians are third in the group with four points, behind the Portuguese and Turkey: they will face Spain on Sunday. Sagnol relies on his best man: Kvaratskhelia – who wins the challenge of the no.7s with Ronaldo – with freedom of action supported by Mikautadze and Chakvetadze. Lokoshvili returns to defense. Martinez hints at a turnover by giving space to the young Conceiçao and Joao Felix in support of central Cristiano Ronaldo. Palinha in midfield. The expert Pepe rests in defense. The young Antonio Silva plays but he will have a disastrous match.
Georgia vs Portugal
Georgia appears more determined from the opening whistle, certainly more than the Portuguese who were very affected already in the first exchanges. And it was precisely from an error by the Portuguese in midfield that the goal was born: Antonio Silva missed a very simple support and gave the ball to Mikautadze. The Metz striker launches Kvaratskhelia who, very quickly, enters the area from the left and beats Diogo Costa with a diagonal shot. Portugal looks for an equalizer by maintaining possession of the ball, while the Georgians try to hit a throw-in. In the 17th minute Ronaldo tries to resolve with a powerful long-range free kick which is blocked by Mamardashvili. The best opportunity comes at the feet of Conceicao who however shoots out following a rebound from the outgoing goalkeeper. Ronaldo doesn’t want to lose and in the 28th minute he also gets a yellow card for protesting. Conceicao came close to equalizing again after half an hour. Portugal pushes but the half ends at 1-0 for the Georgians. In the second half Martinez made only one substitution. Georgia enters more convinced of their abilities and looks for a shot. After 10 minutes the turning point came: Kiteishvili was touched in the area by Antonio Silva. The referee whistles penalty. On the spot Mikautadze scored his third goal and became the tournament’s top scorer. Martinez calls on the bench Antonio Silva, author of the two errors that led to the Georgian goals, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who appeared particularly nervous. The Portuguese looked for a goal but risked succumbing several times to the outbursts of Kvara and Mikautadze. It ends 2-0 amidst the festive chants of the Georgian fans.
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