A heart-pounding birthday, complete with a bottle left in the icebox until the last minute. In the end, however, Vincenzo Montella was able to uncork with a smile, celebrating his fiftieth birthday with a victory. Thanks to Eurogoals from Muldur and Arda Guler and Akturkoglu’s late goal, the Italian coach’s Turkey beat Georgia 3-1 in their debut match at Euro2024, momentarily taking first place in group F, the same as Portugal and the Republic Czech, on the pitch at 9pm.
space for the little gems
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Montella shows up in Germany by fielding both of his gems from the 1st minute: the 2005-born Yildiz and Arda Guler, respectively owned by Juventus and Real Madrid, play wide starters on the flanks. At the Westfalenstadion some Turks turn up their noses, given that the last match with the two 19 year olds on the pitch coincided with a bad defeat (1-6) against Austria. The choice, however, turns out to be the right one. After hours and hours of incessant rain, the pitch in Dortmund has become heavy and the Georgians, less rapid than the Turks, suffer especially in one-on-one situations. Calhanoglu and his teammates start with their foot on the accelerator, try to exploit the movements of the false nueve Yilmaz but come close to taking the lead especially from set pieces, preparing the gorings of the former Sassuolo player Ayhan and the central defender Bardakci.
question and answer
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The goal that unlocks the match comes thanks to a pearl from an old Serie A acquaintance. In the 26th minute the Georgian defenders respond with a cross from the left: before the ball bounces on the edge of the area, Muldur – former Sassuolo full-back, now at Fenerbahçe – he hits a volley from the middle outside and places it under seven. The moment of glory lasts very little, because a minute later Turkey has already doubled the lead. Guler’s flick on the right, low cross for Kocku who dirty the ball. Yildiz arrives at the far post, scoring and celebrating. The 2-0, however, was soon canceled out for a few centimeters offside. The Georgians breathed a sigh of relief and raised their center of gravity, equalizing the score with a shot from Mikautadze in the 32nd minute.
decisive Eurogoal
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After a few too many thrills at the end of the first half, Turkey returned to dominate in the second half. Georgia, on the pitch with the 5-3-2, tries not to allow space and starts again with quick verticalisations, while Calha and his associates dribble and rely on the plays of the individuals. Following a couple of attempts that went wide, Montella’s team took the lead again in the 65th minute. To beat Mamardashvili we need another Eurogoal, which this time bears the signature of Guler. Ancelotti’s pupil receives the ball in the midfield, squeezes inside the pitch and produces a curling shot with his left foot worthy of the best Robben: while the ball ends up under seven, in Istanbul there are already those talking about consecration.
three of a kind at the end
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The 2-1 of the Turks, in any case, was not enough to knock the Georgians down. In the 72nd minute Kocharashvili enters the area with a spell and hits the crossbar, then coach Sagnol throws in two attackers and pushes his forwards. Everything happens in injury time: Mikautadze takes the 2-2 one step away from goal, Davitashvili hits the post after a free kick from Kvara. In the 97th minute there is still hope for a final attack: corner from the Neapolitan, the goalkeeper also steps up. On the crossbar the ball soon falls prey to the Turks, who start on the counterattack with Akrturkoglu and score into an empty net. The match ends 3-1 and Montella treats herself to a fairytale birthday.
