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The Georgian national team, led by the magnificent Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, will debut at the European Championships and has a good chance of qualifying from the group. Sports talks about a team that will undoubtedly be rooted for in Russia.
No one is more excited about the creation of the League of Nations than Georgia
Georgians have never competed in major international tournaments before. Moreover, in the qualifying rounds they most often had the status of outsiders and never claimed a spot in the final round. If we talk about the World Championships, they performed best on the eve of the 2002 World Cup, when they took third place in the group. Before Euro 1996 they also entered the top three, although they were seven points behind Bulgaria, which became second.
The Georgian national team was closest to its cherished dream four years ago, but in the Euro 2020 qualifying they scored only eight points in eight rounds. But in the Nations League they confidently won the group without a single defeat and received the right to play in the playoffs. Both matches were played in Tbilisi, but if Belarus managed to defeat (1:0), then North Macedonia, led by the most experienced Goran Pandev, did not allow them into the final (0:1).
This time everything went according to a similar scenario. In the qualifying round, the Georgians were again content with eight points and by the middle of the cycle they had lost their chances of getting a direct ticket. But once again the Nations League helped — Willy Sagnol’s team could not beat only Bulgaria (0:0) and received another opportunity to qualify for the Euro. Moreover, the Georgians were again lucky to be the hosts in the semi-finals and finals. Their home stands helped them defeat Luxembourg (2:0), and with Greece, which knocked out Kazakhstan, everything was decided as dramatically as possible — in a penalty shootout (0:0, 4:2).
The whole country celebrated the historical event all night long, and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the team would receive just over a million euros in bonuses and the Order of Honor — an award for their special contribution to the construction of the Georgian state.
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Coach — world vice-champion
Georgian football officials have repeatedly resorted to the services of foreign specialists. At different times, the team was coached by the Dutchman Johan Boskamp, the Croatian Ivo Shushak, the Frenchman Alain Giresse, the German Klaus Toppmöller, the Argentinean Hector Cooper, and the Slovakian Vladimir Weiss. True, they were all already accomplished masters of their craft with a wealth of experience behind them, while three years earlier the bet was placed on the young Willy Sagnol. The Frenchman was well known as a player thanks to his excellent career with Monaco, Bayern Munich and the French national team. But as a coach, he had only one team, with which he did not show outstanding results.
Sagnol worked in the French national team system, including in the youth team, and made his debut at the adult level in the 2014/15 season, heading Bordeaux, but was fired after a year and a half. In the summer of 2017, the Frenchman was invited to his headquarters at Bayern by Carlo Ancelotti, although a couple of months later the Italian was dismissed, and Jupp Heynckes did not have a place for the young specialist. For more than three years, Sagnol sat idle until he received an offer to lead the Georgian national team.
In nine starting matches, Sagnol’s team won only one victory with seven defeats and actually failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. But then there was an impressive 11-match unbeaten streak.
RPL team at the European Championship
The main star of the Georgian national team is Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The former midfielder of Lokomotiv and Rubin, now shining in Napoli, by the age of 23 had managed to play 29 matches for the national team, in which he scored 15 goals and 7 assists. In the Nations League, Khvicha scored in every match except the home match with Bulgaria (0:0).
The 23-year-old Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili also stands out. He is the second most valuable (35 million euros) national team player after Kvaratskhelia (80 million).
Veteran Guram Kashiya, who holds the record for the number of matches for the national team (112), deserves special mention. In the center of defense, he plays together with the equally experienced Lasha Dvali from APOEL and the familiar Solomon Kverkvelia, who plays in Saudi Arabia for Al-Okhdud.
By the way, in addition to Saba, the team has many players with experience playing in the RPL — Georgiy Loria (Krylya Sovetov, Anzhi), Dzhemal Tabidze (Ural, Ufa) and Zuriko Davitashvili (Rubin, Rotor, «Arsenal»). But Dynamo player Luka Gagnidze and his former teammate Saba Sazonov were not included in the Euro squad, and Nizhny Novgorod player Konstantin Maradishvili will miss the tournament due to injury.
Will Khvicha sell himself?
Kvaratskhelia has the greatest chance of going up after the Euro. For several weeks now, PSG has been approaching him, who need to find a new attack leader after the departure of Kylian Mbappe. At the moment, the amount of 100 million euros appears in the press.
Mamardashvili may also change his club registration. He moved to Spain for only 850 thousand euros, and now costs at least 40 times more. A year ago, the media wrote about interest in him from Bayern and Manchester United, and in May rumors appeared about negotiations with Newcastle and Chelsea. It is worth paying attention to another rising star — Gabriel Sigua. The 18-year-old stately (190 cm) central midfielder moved from Dynamo Tbilisi to Basel last summer, and in March 2023 he made his debut for the national team. The young man has the same potential as Kvaratskhelia and should soon become one of the leaders of the team.