Portugal left stunned by history-making Georgia

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany — A pre-game chat with Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georgia to one of the biggest upsets in European Championship history on Wednesday, beating Portugal 2-0 and advancing to the last 16.

Georgia's No 7 has admired Ronaldo for years, and had spoken before the game of how much he wanted his hero's shirt. He got it, along with a goal and a slice of soccer history, on a frustrating night for Ronaldo and Portugal.

"Before the match, there was a meeting and he wished me success. It meant so much to me, because I would never have imagined that he would come and say anything to me," Kvaratskhelia said in translated comments. "I realized that I could do, and we could do, so many things today — it gave me inspiration."

For Napoli forward Kvaratskhelia, the win even surpasses his club's historic Italian title last year.

"This is the best day of my life, because it was more difficult to do it with the Georgian team than with Napoli," he said.

A banner at the Georgian fans' end of the stadium read: "Believe".And they did.

The Georgians needed a win to reach the knockout stage, and got their opening goal after only 93 seconds. Georges Mikautadze intercepted a poor pass and set up Kvaratskhelia to score with a low driving shot past Portugal keeper Diogo Costa into the bottom-right corner.

Antonio Silva not only gave away the ball before the first goal, but gave away a penalty for the second, tripping Luka Lochoshvili inside the 18-yard box. Mikautadze hit the spot kick, again low and to the right, in the 57th minute.

In its major tournament debut, Georgia advanced as one of the best third-place teams. Portugal had already qualified from Group F after winning its first two games.

"We just made history, nobody would have believed that we would have made it happen by beating Portugal, but this is why we are a strong team," Kvaratskhelia told reporters.

"If there is even a one percent chance, you can make it happen if you believe."

Georgia arrived at Euro 2024 with no expectations, manager Willy Sagnol said, having already celebrated what it thought would be their biggest achievement just by qualifying.

Nothing to lose

There are benefits to being tournament underdog, Sagnol said.

"When you're the small team, you know you have nothing to lose," the Frenchman said. "The only thing we said before the competition is whatever happens, we don't want any regrets after the competition; the regret of maybe not having played our football, or maybe not having enjoyed the competition as much as we should have done.

"So, you have no weight on your shoulders. It's difficult when you're France, when you're England, when you're Spain, when you're Portugal, because you're under pressure, because people expect you to win.

"The only responsibility we had was to make the Georgian nation proud of their players. And I think we've done it in the best way."

It was a well-deserved win for Georgia who, roared on by their delirious fans, battled all night and was technically superb.

"When you look at our bench, it's not the most exciting in terms of football quality — but, it is in terms of human quality," Sagnol said. "I'm very, very happy. I thought qualifying was our maximum, but football is never written before."

In the game's dying minutes, Sagnol said he checked the clock "about every 10 seconds" until the final whistle blew.

Sagnol's pre-game message was: "Play your football, keep your discipline when you don't have the ball, and when you have it, just play.

"To some players, I even told them, 'remember when you were 16,17, 18, you were playing without any fear, then do exactly the same'. And I think they did it brilliantly today, above all expectations."

The Georgians will now face Spain on Sunday in Cologne, while Portugal plays Slovenia on Monday in Frankfurt. Slovenia is another defensive team that has already upset Portugal 2-0 in a friendly fixture in March.

No goal for Ronaldo

Ronaldo is still without a goal at Euro 2024. He felt he deserved a penalty in the first half, and kicked away a water bottle when he was substituted in the 66th minute.

Ronaldo was given a yellow card for his protests after his penalty appeal was turned down. He wanted the decision after his shirt was pulled in the area by Lochoshvili as a cross came in, but no foul was given.

Portugal had already qualified for the next round as group winner, and coach Roberto Martinez made eight changes from the team which swept Turkiye aside last weekend.

However, his team was on top for most of the match and looked likely to equalize, before Silva — after a lengthy VAR review — was penalized for making contact with Lochoshvili in the box, leading to the decisive spot kick.

"We were low intensity, we conceded early, which is what Georgia needed, and after that, we weren't clear-headed in our passing or finishing," Martinez told reporters.

"We tried to score, but couldn't, that gave Georgia heart and, in the end, it was a deserved win."

Portugal created little in the second half, as Georgia's defense sat deep, but the 2016 champion had chances in added time. Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili kept Georgia's two-goal lead intact, saving shots from Nelson Semedo and Diogo Dalot, while Francisco Conceicao narrowly missed the target.

Coach Martinez criticized "very inconsistent" video reviews, but denied his team had underestimated Georgia.

"Georgia was playing to be part of history, and we didn't match their intensity," he said.

At the final whistle, Georgia's players sprinted off the bench, piling on top of each other in a huddle on the floor, before joyously celebrating in front of their raucous fans.

Turkiye finished second in Group F after eliminating the Czech Republic with a 2-1 win.

Georgia's victory also eliminated Hungary, which finished third in Group A.

Agencies