Having captured the hearts of the continent following their stunning group stage campaign, which culminated with a 2-0 win over Portugal, Georgia bowed out of EURO2024 on Sunday following a 4-1 defeat to Spain in Köln.
Willy Sagnol’s men had seized an early lead in the match but Rodri was on hand to restore parity before half-time, though the goal proved to be a controversial one. Sagnol and Giorgi Mamardashvili both criticised the officiating when they spoke post-match, insisting that Alvaro Morata was impeding the goalkeeper.
What did Willy Sagnol say?
“It was offside, of course it was,” bemoaned Willy Sagnol in his press conference, as the reality of Georgia’s exit from EURO2024 began to sink in.
Georgia had been pinned back by la Roja before a Robin Le Normand own goal handed them the lead, and while it was perhaps inevitable that Spain would eventually restore parity, Sagnol was discontent with the manner in which they did so.
“VAR is a great tool, but they don’t know how to use it. I don’t understand the reason why the equaliser wasn’t ruled offside when in this European Championship, a goal has already been canceled for something similar,” he continued, evidently dismayed by the decision.
For Sagnol, there are now questions about his future. The former French international, now 47 years old, oversaw an impressive qualifying campaign that saw Georgia reach their first major tournament – and by progressing to the knockout stages, he surpassed all expectations.
He chose not to address the rumours in the post-match press conference, insisting that “now is not the time to talk about my future. Now it’s time to think about what we’ve done and analyse everything. We are very happy with what the team has done and very proud of the players. It’s the end of the road, but I hope the next one we do will be very exciting. In a few days, what we’ve done will sink in.”
What did Giorgi Mamardashvili say?
Giorgi Mamardashvili was still dismayed by the decision to award Rodri’s equaliser when he headed through the mixed zone in Köln following Georgia’s EURO2024 elimination. He felt that he had been impeded by Alvaro Morata, adding that the striker was “100% offside.”
“We might have ended up losing the game, but for me it’s offside. Morata was there, in front of me, you know? I was there on the right and Rodri shoots to my left,” he continued, steadfast in his beliefs that the goal should have been chalked off – meaning Georgia would likely have held the lead at the interval.
Still, despite the controversy, Mamardashvili found time to praise la Roja for a dominant performance. The goalkeeper plays his club football in Spain for Valencia CF, and he acknowledged that “Spain are a great team and can win the EUROs with ease.”