Goalkeeper Giorgia Mamardashvili has admitted that Georgia’s defence lost its concentration before conceding a second-half equaliser to Patrik Schick, a mistake which ultimately kept Georgia from claiming its first win of the Euros.
Georges Mikautadze’s first-half penalty was cancelled out in the second period by a clumsy tap-in from Patrik Schick, as Georgia chalked up its first point of the campaign. With one game remaining, the door remains open for Georgia to qualify for the knockout stages.
Embed from Getty ImagesSpeaking at full time, player of the match Mamardvashili remained proud of his side’s performance despite failing to seal the win, saying: “This is a historic moment to win our first point. Of course, we could have had one in the last moments but that’s football, anything can happen. Three points would be very important, but one point will do as well because we continue our fight.”
He continued: “I just thought that maybe this is the chance to get out of the group, but we could not do that, we did not score the goal, but we still had chances to make it happen.”
He was quick to defend his teammate, Saba Lobzhanidze, who sent a late chance sailing over the bar following a blistering Georgia counterattack.
“The goalkeeper was standing in the right corner and Lobzhanidze did the thing he had to do in that moment,” he said. “It is very difficult to perform in those situations because you have less time than it seems from the stands.”
On conceding the equaliser, the Valencia goalkeeper held up his hands, admitting that both he and his defenders struggled in a crucial moment, adding that they were lucky to see an earlier Czech goal ruled out for a handball.
Embed from Getty Images“In the first case we were lucky enough because it was a handball, but the second one it was a corner and we lost our concentration, and the Czechs took advantage of it,” he said. “We will need more concentration because when you play at the tournament like that you should be more focused and myself I should not lose my focus.”
Mamardashvili was particularly proud to have achieved the result in the face of such a strong Czech side.
“They are a very cohesive team, they play strong football and they play with long passes. We knew that and we have studied the manner of playing of every team and they were quite successful, I wish them success in their next matches.”
Head coach Willy Sagnol was also quick to defend Lobzhanidze, saying: “That is why I went to the player because I think I can imagine how he was feeling, but you know in that case it is difficult to say anything. I tried to tell him that the ones who never tried never miss, and the best way to miss is to try.”
He continued: “In the first minutes I think players were disappointed because this was a massive opportunity, but I hope they will quickly get the fact that they got their first-ever point in a major tournament. I don’t know if that point is deserved [today], but after three and a half years in this position, I think it is more than deserved.”
Embed from Getty Images“The strongest feeling is definitely pride. You can’t be disappointed, you know, you can’t. Sometimes you can be disappointed when you don’t know the whole way, what you went through in the last months or years, it is a great pride and I know the whole country will celebrate that in a very Georgian way.”
Georgia’s final group stage match against Portugal will be the toughest test yet as they continue to push for knockout qualification, though Sagnol has confirmed his team is up for the challenge despite the underdog narrative.
“Its Portugal,” he laughed, grimly acknowledging the challenge at hand. “I don’t want to play the small one against the big one but its Portugal. We will respect Portugal and prepare as best we can.
“We will play with ambition, the ambition of doing something well and maybe getting a reward at the end. We know it is going to be difficult.”
For further analysis of Georgia v Czechia, check out all of FromTheSpot’s coverage here on our website.
