Willy Sagnol fulfilled his dream of the European Championship in Germany with the Georgian national team after a penalty drama. The Georgians beat Greece 4-2 on penalties in the play-off final and secured their first ever participation in a major tournament. After 120 minutes the score was 0-0.
Sagnol has been a coach in Georgia for three years, and this is the greatest success so far for the former FC Bayern crowd favorite.
Nika Kvekveskiri caused great emotions among 50,000 frenetic fans at the Boris Paichadze Stadium in Tbilisi with his converted penalty, with the majority storming the pitch after the final whistle. Georgia will play its first European Championship game against Turkey in Dortmund on June 18th. In addition, Portugal and the Czech Republic are the preliminary round opponents in Group F. Greece, European champions in 2004, missed their fifth EURO.
The game was competitive, disjointed and hectic. At the half-time whistle there was even a wild scuffle in front of the players’ benches. There were red cards, including for Georgia’s substitute goalkeeper Giorgi Loria. Both teams shied away from taking risks. Only in extra time did things become more lively, including opportunities.
Sagnol had already announced before the game that he would resign as Georgia national coach after the European Championships. In the semi-finals, Georgia beat Luxembourg 2-0 thanks to two goals from Budu Zivzivadze from second division Karlsruher SC. Greece clearly defeated Kazakhstan (5-0).
2024-03-26 20:01:00
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