Khvicha Kvaratskhelia relishes 'best day' in Georgians' lives after ...

3 days ago

KEYT

By Ben Church, CNN

(CNN) — It’s a night that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will never forget.

The forward not only inspired Georgia to the knockout stages of Euro 2024 on Wednesday, he also realized his own childhood dream by doing so against Cristiano Ronaldo.

Georgia is the lowest-ranked team at this year’s European Championship and few gave the nation a chance of progressing out of the group stages in what is its debut appearance at a major tournament.

But against all odds, the Crusaders produced a memorable performance to secure a deserved 2-0 Group F win against Portugal, thanks to a second-minute goal from Kvaratskhelia and a second-half penalty from Georges Mikautadze.

The full-time whistle sparked jubilant scenes on the pitch and in the stands, with tears of joy flowing around the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.

Meanwhile, fireworks lit up the sky of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, after the win, with fans flooding out onto the streets to celebrate the historic achievement.

“This is the best day in the lives of Georgians,” Kvaratskhelia told reporters after the game, per Reuters.

“Everybody is so happy, we just made history. Nobody would believe that we would make it happen and we would defeat Portugal. But I think this is why we’re a strong team.”

Speaking to CNN Sport the morning after the match, Georgia’s assistant manager David Webb described the atmosphere after the final whistle as “immense” as players and staff “let go” while celebrating with the fans.

The coach, a vital cog in manager Willy Sagnol’s team, said the squad had been “calm” ahead of the crunch tie and managed to execute the game plan to perfection.

Webb, known for his ability to motivate players on a more personal level, said he had delivered a presentation before the tournament which focused on self belief.

He said his speech drew on motivation from smaller nations, such as Wales and Iceland, which had punched above their weight at previous European Championships – Wales reached the semifinals and Iceland the quarterfinals at Euro 2016.

“It was about giving the players a bit of belief that there is no reason we can’t do something like that as well,” Webb added.

The assistant manager said players and staff enjoyed the “special” celebrations after the match, but reassured that they didn’t go on too late.

Ronaldo encouragement

Videos on social media showed the team’s excitement in the locker room, with Kvaratskhelia wearing Ronaldo’s shirt.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo had been frustrated for much of the match but had given his shirt to an emotional Kvaratskhelia following the defeat.

Before the match on Wednesday, a picture from 2013 was circulating on social media of Ronaldo standing in the middle of a group of young children on a trip to Tbilisi. One of those children was Kvaratskhelia, who later posted it to his Instagram Story.

The Napoli forward also spoke to his childhood hero before the match and said Ronaldo had wished him luck.

“When he comes to you before the match and when he says that I wish you success, that is amazing,” Kvaratskhelia added.

“I realized that actually I could do and we could do so many things today because it gave us so much incentive.”

Before celebrating with his teammates, Kvaratskhelia ran over to console Ronaldo after the full time whistle – Portugal still qualified as group winners despite the defeat.

Georgia’s talisman then posted a photo of Ronaldo’s shirt with his Man of the Match award on Instagram, with the caption “Dreams.”

Despite helping Napoli win the Serie A title in 2023, Kvaratskhelia said that beating Portugal and reaching the knockout stages with his country was the biggest achievement of his career to date.

“This is the best day in my life because it was more difficult to do it with the Georgian team than with the Napoli team,” he said.

“There was no individual best player,” he said. “It was teamwork and we proved to anyone that we could really play.”

Georgia will need to count on Kvaratskhelia again when it plays Spain in the last 16 on Sunday, if it stands any chance of going deeper in the tournament.

“We’ve done really well to get to this stage and to write another page in Georgian history,” Webb said.

“So we go into Spain game with no fear, lots of belief, lots of confidence, and we’ll give it our best and see where we go.”