Kvaratskhelia, the Maradonian star who embittered his idol Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2024 :: Olé

Georgia needed just a minute and a half to open the scoring against Portugal on the last date of the group stage of Euro 2024. Or, rather, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Maradonian player and sensation in Napoli’s last Scudetto who was responsible for making his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, bitter on Wednesday, and to the Portuguese, who were defeated 2-0 by the Georgians.

A poor start by Portugal in just over a minute of play led to a key recovery in the middle of the field by Georges Mikautadze, Kvaratskhelia’s attacking duo, who set up the counter and unloaded just at the end with Kvara so that the 7 crossed with a left foot and quickly made the score 1-0 in favor of Georgia.

In addition to Kvaratskhelia, Mikautadze himself sealed the match 2-0 with a penalty in the 57th minute, allowing Georgia to celebrate and advance, as one of the best third-placed teams and for the first time in history, to the round of 16 of Euro 2024. And Kvaradona, as he was nicknamed at Napoli in honor of Diego Armando Maradona (whom he and his father admire), He was one of those who made it possible. With a particular story behind: 11 years ago, he took a photo with Cristiano and participated in an academy that the Portuguese opened in Georgia.

In 2013, Cristiano decided to open a football academy in Georgia. And, curiously, Kvaratskhelia participated in it, who was present there, like many other kids, the day it premiered. Even, A photo was taken next to the Portuguese at that moment, which now, of course, after Georgia’s victory, began to go viral everywhere…

It is worth noting that, as mentioned above, Cristiano is precisely Kvara’s idol as revealed by the footballer himself. “(Lionel) Messi is a player who seems to have come from another planet. “(Cristiano) Ronaldo inspires me because he reached the same level as Messi thanks to work and sacrifice, and I would also like to follow his career,” said the Georgian striker in an interview with Il Mattino.

Beyond the fact that it was Napoli fans who nicknamed him Kvaradona, the Georgian is also a great admirer of Diego. “Maradona is the gold of our city. It is also our day because of what it means for Napoli,” he said last year on what would have been Pelusa’s 63rd birthday. And in fact, that affection for the Ten, inherited from his father, was one of the reasons why he arrived at Napoli in 2022.

“The first interest of many Italian clubs was when Kvicha was playing in Russia. At that time he was followed by Inter, Juventus, Roma, Sampdoria and obviously Napoli. But as a family we all thought that the best option was Napoli. If he had gone to Juventus For example, he would have had less chance of starting given the presence of Di María. At first we thought about Juventus. Paratici (Juve’s sporting director at the time) loved him, but my idol was Maradona. “The idea of ​​seeing my son in the stadium that bears his name was decisive in accepting Napoli’s offer,” said his father, Badri Kvaratskhelia, in the book “Kvaradona, a Georgian miracle”, presented last year.

The group winners are Germany, Spain, England, Austria, Romania and Portugal, while the runners-up are Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, France, Belgium and Turkey. Meanwhile, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia and Georgia, which will face Spain in the round of 16, go through as the best third parties.

Eliminated: Scotland, Hungary, Albania, Croatia, Serbia, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic.

Saturday 6/29 – 1:00 p.m. – Switzerland vs Italy

Saturday 29/6 – 4:00 p.m. – Germany vs Denmark

Sunday 6/30 – 1:00 p.m. – England vs Slovakia

Sunday 6/30 – 4:00 p.m. – Spain vs Georgia

Monday 1/7 – 13.00 hours – France vs Belgium

Monday 1/7 – 4:00 p.m. – Portugal vs Slovenia

Tuesday 2/7 – 1:00 p.m. – Romania vs Netherlands

Tuesday 7/2 – 4:00 p.m. – Austria vs Türkiye