Sensational Kvaratskhelia inspires small teams to famous victory while frustrated Cristiano Ronaldo is sidelined
A talismanic number 7 led his nation from the top.
And his countrymen, all heroes, made history.
Cristiano who?
No, this was the night of Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, his brothers in arms and Georgia.
Before the match, Kvaratskhelia admitted that he had played below average in his home country’s first major tournament.
The electrifying winger, who played such a big role in Napoli’s 2022/23 Serie A triumph, did not live up to the nickname given to him by his club’s admiring fans.
Kvaradona will never overshadow Diego Maradona.
But for just one night, he and his team were able to defeat the living legend Cristiano Ronaldo and his highly touted Portuguese team.
Thanks to Kvaratskhelia’s excellent counterattack goal, they took the lead after barely 90 seconds.
It seemed unlikely that they could last another 90 minutes or more.
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A brave defensive performance and Portugal’s inability to make the most of their chances secured the lead until George Mikautadze doubled the advantage with a penalty awarded by the video referee.
Even then, they still had more than half an hour to play against Roberto Martinez’s star-studded team.
But in the end, Portugal had to pay the price for fielding a second team against a team for whom this was more than just a football match.
Reaching the round of 16 at the first attempt is an achievement that will be remembered in Georgia for a long time after the current political problems are hopefully resolved soon and without violence.
And Georgia’s victory and third place means that England will not have to face Holland in the round of 16.
That’s it for Gelsenkirchen 2006, Cristiano!
There was no repeat of the wink with which Ronaldo greeted the sending off of his Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney when Portugal beat England on penalties in the World Cup quarter-finals here.
Martinez felt confident enough to keep some of his substitutes on the pitch for a few minutes before the knockout rounds and to experiment again with a three-man defense.
That meant full-back positions for Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot and Wolves winger Pedro Neto, two of the eight changes made since the 3-0 win over Turkey that secured top spot in Group F.
It was another player, Benfica centre-back Antonio Silva, who gave Georgia the perfect start.
Without much pressure, he passed directly to Georges Mikautadze.
No sooner had it been said: “This team is known for its quick counterattacks”, than Mikautadze played a perfect pass into the path of Kvaratskhelia, who had already covered half the length of the pitch when he coolly finished.
The celebrations were much less relaxed, not least in the press gallery…
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Kvaratskhelia’s counterpart soon became agitated for other reasons.
Ronaldo complained as early as the 10th minute that the free kicks were not being given in Portugal’s favour.
Giorgi, the first name of many of Sagnol’s team, comes from ancient Greek and literally means farmer.
To be honest, some of the challenges Georgia faced were more agricultural in nature.
But Ronaldo allowed her and the situation to get under his skin.
He saw Giorgi Mamardashvili block a free kick with his fist and then stabbed Silva for taking the ball off his head.
And after Francisco Conceicao put a shot into the side netting, the captain of the Portuguese national team completely lost his temper.
His complaints that his shirt was being pulled were also not unfounded.
But he talked and gesticulated too much and ended up in the referee’s book, all the while blasting away at the world.
Georgia had not made any progress for over half an hour until Kvaratskhelia narrowly missed the goal twice and a shot by Ronaldo was well blocked in between.
When Neto received Portugal’s third yellow card for diving at the 2024 European Championship – the other two were given to Rafael Leao – his captain was just able to keep his composure.
Mamardashvili tried to prevent a corner kick from Neto that went straight into the goal and so ended an eventful first half.
The pattern was soon resumed.
Portugal continued to press and feel their way forward, but Ronaldo was once again thwarted by the men in red’s latest blockade.
Kvaratskhelia had the chance to double his team’s lead but missed his shot.
Then came Silva’s second moment of forgetting.
He left the field with a sluggish leg when he half-heartedly challenged Luka Locoshvili, which the Swiss referee Sandro Schärer did not consider a foul.
But after Mamardashvili brilliantly parried a shot from Dalot, the VAR asked Schärer to take another look.
Penalty. And Mikautadze scored as if it wasn’t the most significant moment of his life.
Ronaldo was not impressed. Even less so when he reacted to a slight tug on his arm by Lasha Dvali with a dramatic dive and the referee did not buy it.
Shortly after Kvaratskhelia kept the ball despite the attention of about half the Portuguese team, Ronaldo was substituted.
Watford’s Giorgi Chakvetadze and Budu Zivzivadze had chances to give Georgia some breathing room.
But Portugal’s men in grey found no way past the heroes in red.
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