Euro 2024: By Georgia, they’ve done it!

Morning all.

So we now know the fixtures for the knock-out rounds of Euro 2024 after the final group games took place yesterday. First up, Georgia beating Portugal 2-0 to go through is a fantastic achievement for them, but they’ve been something of a breath of fresh air throughout the tournament so it’s great to see that rewarded. Georges Mikautadze is the tournament’s top scorer now after his nerveless penalty, and Giorgi Marmardashvili might give Donnarumma a run for best keeper after some excellent saves.

The other goalscorer, the live-wire Kvhicha Kvaratskhelia said afterwards:

This is the best day in the lives of Georgians. We just made history. Nobody would believe what has happened, that we would defeat Portugal but this is why we’re a strong team. We just encourage each other and told each other that we could do that. It is the best day of my life.

I also enjoyed the RTE commentator Adrian Eames who, at the final whistle, understood what his audience wanted to hear, saying:

What a night for everyone from Georgia! But disappointment for Ronaldo …

Haha!

I was mostly watching the other game between Turkey and the Czech Republic which was notable for how many yellow cards there were. The ref went trigger happy too early, and I think the 19th minute sending off of Antonin Barak played a big part in that. The Fiorentina man can have no complaints about his first yellow, but the second seemed really harsh – he connected with the ball and his studs came down on top of the foot of the opposition player who didn’t get the ball. Where was his foot supposed to go?

Turkey’s goal from Hakan Calhanoglu was genuinely brilliant, a superb finish after twice they had been denied in quick succession thanks to last-ditch defending and a great save from Jindrich Stanek who injured himself in the process. The technique with the outside of the foot from the Inter Milan midfielder was as good as it gets, adding to Turkey’s collection of bangers at Euro 2024….

Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/06/44161/

Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2024-06-27 05:53:45

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