Debutant in the Euro Cup starting in the Nations League and eliminating Greece in the play-off, he struck the blow and met again in the round of 16 with La Roja who crushed him in the qualifying phase.
Georgia in the round of 16 of the Euro Cup. The impossible became real after a victory as epic as it was unexpected against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. The Georgia of Kvaratskhelian and Mamardashvili, heroes of a population that vibrates through some footballers facing a government that looks towards Moscow against the general sentiment of the vast majority of a country that dreams of joining the European Union.
It is difficult to refer to Georgia when it comes to football, but on June 30, Sunday, it will experience the most important day in its history when it faces Spain in Cologne, in an unthinkable tie, seven months after losing 3-1 in Valladolid and after nine years of conceding their worst defeat at home, 1-7 against La Roja in Tbilisi, with a hat trick from Morata.
The Georgian team began to dream of the Euro Cup thanks to the Nations League, where it already made a splash by winning its Division C group over Bulgaria, giving up just one draw in six games. That gave them the right to play in the play-off regardless of their place in the qualifying phase, where they finished fourth, behind Spain, Scotland and Norway.
They beat Luxembourg 2-0 in the semi-final and in the final, the final duel, they beat Greece in the penalty shootout to achieve the greatest success in their football history.
It is, on paper, a tie with clear Spanish favoritism. Seven duels since 2012 ended with six Hispanic victories and a single Georgian victory, notable, yes, in June 2016, Spain’s last friendly before the Euro Cup in France that would mean the sad farewell of Vicente del Bosque as coach of La Red.
Both teams have changed a lot in the last eight years. Spain has already consumed two coaches (Lopetegui and Luis Enrique) while Georgia, without abandoning its role as Cinderella, is showing the world excellent footballers.
It happens with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Napoli’s undisputed star whose name points to a million-dollar transfer, and it also happens with Giorgi Mamardashvili, Valencia goalkeeper and one of the most outstanding in this first phase of the tournament in Germany.
In September 2023, they conceded seven goals against the team led by Luis de la Fuente and everything suggests that on Sunday they will bid farewell, with honour, to this first European Championship they have played in.
The honor and the dream, however, no one will take away from Georgia.
