Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey broke the ice in the best way possible at Euro 2024, beating debutant Georgia 3-1 and also a negative tradition that saw the Turks always defeated in the opening match in the five continental tournaments they had participated in so far.
The three points will be fundamental to reach the round of 16 in a group F which also includes Portugal and the Czech Republic, on paper the two favorites to occupy the first two places.
Two spectacular goals from Muldur and Guler, in the first and second half, put Montella’s boys ahead, reached only once, by Mikautadze, but in injury time Georgia came close to equalizing twice, only to be punished on the counterattack by Akturkoglu .
A party in Dortmund for the tens of thousands of Turkey fans, even if there were moments of tension in the stands, when the rival fans came into contact before the kick-off, not at all distracted by the storm that almost flooded some areas of the Westfalenstadion. A tension that immediately spilled over onto the pitch, with Turkey starting at a high pace and immediately forcing Georgia into their backcourt, with a dense turnover of the ball across the entire attacking front. Already in the first minutes, Montella’s team, good at relying on young talents Yldiz and Guler, became dangerous, first twice with Ayhan and Bardacki with headers, then in the 10th minute Ayhan again hit the post with a right-footed shot from the edge .
The siege continued and in the 14th minute the Juventus player Yldiz challenged the Georgian goalkeeper again. The Turkish goal was in the air and came in the 25th minute, when Muldur volleyed a volley after a defender’s header, putting the ball into the top corner. Two minutes later Turkey also doubled the lead through Yildiz, but the goal was disallowed due to a centimeter offside. The episode restored some confidence to Georgia who, on the rare occasions they had, even in the most difficult moments of the first half hour, did not give up on being dangerous, with goalkeeper Gunok forced to deal with a shot from Mekvabishvili. And so in the 32nd minute Mikautadze equalized, becoming the first scorer in Georgia’s history in a major football event. Three minutes later, the attacker could have doubled the lead, but alone in the area he missed the target.
In the second half, Turkey, always led with a firm hand by Calhanoglu, picked up the pace again. The Nerazzurri midfielder put the goalkeeper in difficulty with a free kick, but the gem came in the 30th minute, when the 19-year-old Arda Guler hit the right corner of Mamardashvili’s goal with a curling shot from 25 metres. However, Kvara and his teammates were not discouraged: Kochorashvili hit the crossbar in the 35th minute, Mikautadze wasted a golden opportunity in injury time, with the post again saying no to Davitashvili. The final assault left the goal unguarded and Akturkoglu made it 3-1 in the 52nd minute, a free kick that was too harsh for a truly indomitable Georgia
THE MATCH
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