Georgia are the shock inclusion in the EURO2024 knockout rounds, upsetting the pundits’ picks with a dramatic upset of Portugal on the final day of the group stage campaign to secure progression.
Goals from Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Metz’s Georges Mikautadze, the breakout star of the tournament thus far, ultimately downed what was admittedly a second-string Portugal – though the win will go down in history amongst the Georgia faithful.
A round-of 16-match against Spain, though, promises to throw up some challenges. Spain did not lose a match or concede a goal in the group stages, something that cannot be said for Georgia.
Georgia’s record against Spain is less than encouraging. The two teams have played each other twice in EURO2024 qualification, with Spain winning at an aggregate score of 10-2 – and one of the matches finished 7-1 in favour of the visiting Spaniards. Georgia have not beaten la Roja since 2016.
Speaking from Köln ahead of the match, Willy Sagnol and Giorgi Mamardashvili have steeled themselves for the challenge, quipping that Georgia have “nothing to lose.”
What did Willy Sagnol say?
Sagnol began by saying that the Portugal match was particularly exciting, but that he and his team have put significant effort into moving beyond the result and zeroing in on the next challenge.
“It has been a very emotional moment, because maybe it was not so expected, but we are very happy to be here,” he said. “It is more problematic, the amount of days of recovery, because we only had four days and Spain had six days. Of course, I am not saying it’s a problem because that’s the way it is, but we would have preferred to have one or two more days. I am sure the players have had a good recovery and they are very excited to be on the pitch tomorrow.”
Referring to the 7-1 defeat to Spain, which came in September of last year, Sagnol says that he and the team have learned plenty from what was a humiliating loss.
“It has been a difficult moment, but you know sometimes to get further in life, you need moments like that where it is very difficult where you think you are not good, where you think you have done everything bad, it is always good to have moments like that,” he told reporters.
“Without difficulty, you cannot have great achievement. It is part of our journey, we have had better moments than this one, but I am sure the 7-1 taught us a lot of things and we learned a lot of things form it. We know Spain very well, we played them four times in the last three years, we lost four times, that is the way it is, but it is a different competition tomorrow.”
Sagnol is also proud of the level of his achievement with Georgia, saying that this fixture puts his time with the team into perspective.
When asked how Georgia have such strong team chemistry, he said: “It is difficult to say. I think it would be too easy to say that we have great resources and great achievement and that is why we are close to each other. I came to Georgia three and a half years ago, I knew nothing about the country, I just knew some people. That is how it started.”
“I think it is like everything in life, things that start too intense, sometimes they do not last for long, and it took a bit of time because of the culture difference, mentality difference, and it took me a while to understand a lot of things.”
He continued: “I think I have found my position in the country, and I spend a lot of time in Georgia. Every time I take the plane to Tbilisi, I am a very happy boy. It is also the part of the journey. If you do not like the place where you are, then you cannot do a good job. If you do like the place, you can give everything. That would describe best my view of the situation.”
He has also put plenty of stock into planning for this match, aiming to strike a healthy balance between tactical nous and individual flair in his planning.
“You cannot take your players every day to ‘play freely, take risks, do not calculate, do that, that, and that,’ to have a different speech with them for the knockout stage. I give a lot of importance to our defensive strategy and discipline, but once [the players] have the ball they know they can do whatever they want,” he explained.
“Against big teams when you are Georgia, if you only think about how to defend, at some point you are going to crumble. We want to show Europe that we are not only good at defending but also at using the ball. Against Portugal we had great moments with the ball, and I hope that tomorrow we can see the same kind of performance.”
“When you play against Spain, the danger can come from anywhere,” he went on, determined in the face of arguably the biggest match of his managerial career.
Speaking on the breakout sensations Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, he said that “it is nice because it brings something fresh to football, I think the problem with the football world the last 15 years have been like a game of ping-pong between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but to see young players coming on this level is absolutely great for the sport.”
Ever the football purist, he continued: “Football is not mathematics. Football is not a chess game. You have to play with your feelings, your experience, with a lot of things. That fits very well also to the Georgian culture, a lot of emotions and for example, all the best of Georgia I have seen in one match.”
“You know it is very easy because they do not need me as a person to give them motivation. The fact already to be here and play a European championship for the players, they do not need any extra words.”
“We go into this last game with a lot of confidence, because we have nothing to lose. For me, we have already won the European Championship, and I am just very excited to be once more on the pitch and hear the Georgian national anthem in a great stadium.”
What did Giorgi Mamardashvili say?
Girorgi Mamardashvili did not contribute quite as much to the press conference as he has on the pitch for Georgia, though he had glowing things to say about Kvaratskhelia, whose early goal against Portugal set the tone for a historic upset.
“I am an ordinary Georgian man, I think Kvara is one of the best in the world,” he said. “I think he is one of the players who could win the Ballon d’Or. This is not disrespect to the Spanish players, I think they are great, but I think that Kvara is one of the best in the world.”
As with Sagnol, Mamardashvili is wary of the threat posed by Spain across the pitch, acknowledging the fact that much of the Spanish squad will be familiar with his work given he plays in La Liga.
“I think Spain will play the open game, they will attack, but we will be playing defence. We need to not make mistakes and counterattack. They have good players, and we have good players who can create dangerous moments in the box. We expect some tension, and we may play from back, but we will be quite dangerous in the attack as well.”
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