The one thing these Euros lacked was a true underdog. Enter Georgia
Georges Mikautadze gets his celebration on. Photograph: Leon Kuegeler/Reuters
GEORGIA ON OUR MINDS
The group stages of Euro 2024 are over, and what fun it’s been. There have been long-range screamers and last-minute winners. Thrilling young superstars have emerged, and legions of fans have brought colour and joy to every ground. England have also taken part. The one thing lacking was a true underdog story, a team for neutrals to rally behind. Aside from the melee of Group E and Austria (who are nobody’s underdogs) topping Group D, the final standings are not far off what most of us might have guessed at the start.
Enter Georgia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament (74th, one place below Northern Ireland) who turned heads with their feisty, full-throttle approach in a wildly entertaining 3-1 defeat to Turkey and a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic. A motley crew drawn from 18 different domestic leagues, W1lly Sagnol’s side emerged on the big stage with a clear identity and a big opportunity: victory over already-qualified Portugal would guarantee a last-16 place. Sagnol, a Big Cup winner as a player with Bayern Munich and World Cup finalist with France, urged caution. “I mean, it’s Portugal. It’s a fantastic team with a lot of top, top players … but if there is a little chance to qualify you can be assured my players will do everything.”
They delivered on his promise. With barely 60 seconds played, Antonio Silva presented the ball to Georges Mikautadze, who set up Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to drill the ball into the bottom corner. The Georgia fans behind the goal, coiled in nervous anticipation, went ballistic. It was a spine-tingling moment – and a blessed relief for this email, having sat through England 0-0 Slovenia and Belgium 0-0 Ukraine. Portugal pushed for an equaliser but were repelled by keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili until the hapless Silva conceded a penalty, converted emphatically by Mikautadze to kill the game off and send Georgia through to face Spain, a team who beat them 7-1 in qualifying.
Yes, about that: Georgia qualified through a playoff path made up of teams from the third tier of the Nations League, which meant their actual qualifying campaign (where they won two games out of eight, both against Cyprus) didn’t matter much. In the playoffs, they defeated Luxembourg and then Greece, on penalties, in Tbilisi. Having enjoyed several slices of luck to reach the finals, they also benefited from landing in Group F – meaning they knew exactly what was needed in their final game, which happened to be against a team who were already through. So, do the plucky Crusaders, everyone’s new second-favourite team, deserve to be here? In theory, perhaps not; but on the pitch, they do.
Mikautadze, recently relegated from Ligue 1 with Metz, is the tournament’s top scorer, the elastic Mamardashvili is its star keeper and in “Kvaradona”, they have a superstar who can elevate his teammates. Beating any Portugal side on this stage, regardless of the circumstances, is an incredible achievement for a nation of less than four million people (for some context, the Instachat account for Cristiano Ronaldo’s new fragrance, CR7, has 10 million followers). It was Ronaldo who opened Dinamo Tbilisi’s academy in 2013, when Kvaratskhelia was just another wide-eyed youngster watching on. Back then, Georgia were sliding into triple figures in the world rankings; nights like this were beyond the realms of fantasy.
Uefa created the Nations League partly to open up qualifying spots to emerging teams, and nobody has made better use of it than Georgia. They have only lost once in 18 games in the competition, moving up from the fourth tier to the second, where they will next face the Czechs, Ukraine and Albania. The top flight is a realistic target – but nobody on the streets of Tbilisi is thinking about that. “This is the best day in the lives of Georgians,” Kvaratskhelia said after the final whistle. “We just made history. Even if there is just a 1% chance, we proved you can make it happen.” Spain, consider yourselves warned.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
As the attacker begins his 87th feint in his run-up … new Ifab rules for penalties in 2026: goalkeepers must have their backs turned at the time of the shot. In case of a save, an indirect free-kick” – France keeper Mike Maignan gets fresh and funky after being told his penalty save from Robert Lewandowski didn’t count, leading to a retake which whistled past him after the striker took an age tap-dancing his way to the ball.
EURO 2024 DAILY LETTERS
I have lived here on the Silver Coast 60km north of Lisbon for 15 years. By now I am a familiar face in the local town and just this morning my barber saw me and dashed out of his salon to gleefully tell me how dreadful England are. So I was especially pleased with the Portugal v Georgia result. I think I will go for a haircut today” – Martin Reece.
Your comments about Glastonbury not showing the England men’s football team on Sunday (yesterday’s Euro 2024 Daily, full email edition), brought to mind a similar circumstance at the Cambridge Folk Festival two years ago. The Lionesses were playing the second half of their Euros final when Billy Bragg was due on the main stage. He’d watched the first half and was just managing to hold it together when he suddenly said: ‘That England flag is really distracting.’ He then explained he was really nervous and asked if he could have a score update. A few minutes later a ripple went around the crowd and we knew they’d won. Billy then led us in a rendition of what should be our English anthem, Jerusalem. It was wonderful” – Jane Beer.
Send letters to [email protected]. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Jane Beer. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
A MESSAGE FROM THE MAN
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BOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Belgium fans made their contribution to the Big Summer of Moaning by jeering their team off after a limp performance in a 0-0 draw with Ukraine that took them through and dumped their unfortunate opponents out with four points. After the game, boss Domenico Tedesco had a funk on about all manner of things, ranging from his team’s lengthy police-escorted journey, laser pens being shone at his players and the booing, which left him “surprised”. “Every traffic light was red. I had two minutes to make a preparation talk and we had to reduce the warmup. It’s unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable …” he raged.
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NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Hungary’s Barnabas Varga has been discharged from hospital and is continuing his recovery at home after breaking several bones in his face and suffering concussion in a collision with Scotland keeper Angus Gunn.
Turkey are through to the last 16, claiming second place with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in a feisty encounter that saw something like 21 cards doled out and generally had plenty of things that everyone no one likes to see.
Slovakia and Romania have made sure to dispel any fears that they’d pull a Disgrace of Gijón by going at each other hell for leather, drawing 1-1 and both going through to the knockouts anyway.
That last 16 lineup in full (all times BST): Saturday 29 June – Switzerland v Italy (5pm), Germany v Denmark (8pm); Sunday 30 June – England v Slovakia (5pm), Spain v Georgia (8pm); Monday 1 July – France v Belgium (5pm), Portugal v Slovenia (8pm); Tuesday 2 July – Romania v Netherlands (5pm); Austria v Turkey (8pm).
Luke Shaw could be back to solve England’s decades-old left-sided problem against Slovakia on Sunday. Gareth Southgate, meanwhile, has continued his strategy of diverting criticism towards him and away from his players. “Whatever the feeling is towards me, you’ve got to get behind the team … would I rather the criticism is directed at me? 100%. That is my job,” he parped.
Phil Foden, however, has left the camp to attend the birth of his third child. It’s not clear if he’ll be back for the Slovakia match in Gelsenkirchen.
And Albania are keeping their heads held high despite an early exit, having come up just short in a group containing Spain, Italy and Croatia. “No one was humiliated. We were playing at the top level,” roared coach Sylvinho. “[The players] were perfect for me as coach – this was pure gold.”
BEYOND THE EUROS
The FA has agreed to pay Gareth Southgate’s former Mr 15%, Terry Byrne, several hundred thousand pounds compensation to settle a long-running legal dispute. Byrne was suing with a claim the FA breached its contract with one of his companies by terminating a deal to manage England players’ commercial appearances while on international duty that was due to run until 2030.
Chelsea are front-runners in the battle to sign Lucy Bronze after it was announced she will leave Barcelona when her contract expires. The England right-back’s two-year deal expires on Sunday.
Also on the move is Manchester United’s Katie Zelem, who is joining her Manchester United teammate Mary Earps in leaving on a free transfer.
London City Lionesses have a new manager in Jocelyn Prêcheur and a new flagship signing to go with her.
Newcastle have slapped a £115m price tag on Alexander Isak in a bid to keep Arsenal and Chelsea’s mitts off the Sweden forward.
Todd Boehly and co also like the look of Nottingham Forest’s Murillo and will offer a wedge of cash plus Trevoh Chalobah for his services.
West Ham have signed goalkeeper Wes Foderingham on a free transfer from relegated Sheffield United. “I’m just delighted to be here,” he roared, before heading off to do some shopping at Westfield.
And last season’s Milk Cup semi-finalists Middlesbrough will face Championship rivals Leeds in the first round of this year’s competition after the draw was made by Gary McAllister and the extremely dapper Frank Sinclair.
STILL WANT MORE?
You can’t light a fire without a spark, but England are shunting theirs to the left wing as one of many imbalances. Jacob Steinberg therefore believes it’s time to drop Jude Bellingham and accommodate Phil Foden in his favoured No 10 role.
Here’s the view from Slovakia.
Kylian Mbappé is back for France after quite literally getting his nose put out of joint. Eric Devin argues that the man in the mask has come to personify this team and Les Bleus are totally reliant on him to stand a chance of glory.
Uefa’s well-intentioned plans to “maximise sustainability” and create a more environmentally friendly Euros have been undermined throughout the tournament, writes Philippe Auclair.
Podcast wars are spilling over into the traditional BBC v ITV battle, reckons John Brewin.
Sick of seeing plastic beer cups chucked into the air at the Euros? Paul MacInnes reports on this tournament’s growing projectiles problem.
And check out the latest Golden Boot standings and marvel at how much the goals have been shared around.
MEMORY LANE
Euro 2024 Daily’s colleague colleague Karen Carney celebrates wildly at the City of Manchester Stadium after scoring an injury-time winner for England against Finland in the group stage of Euro 2005.
AND ANOTHER THING
Unleash the dogs of Spurs! In the latest example of English clubs’ endless niche-ification of their supporter bases, Tottenham have launched a specific supporters’ club for dog owners to join “alongside their beloved pets”. Fans can now sign up for membership of Tottenham Hotspaw (oh yes!), which promises “a programme of special experience for supporters and their dogs”. This will also include the chance to take part in fund-raising events to support the charity All Dogs Matter. In a possible boost to the ailing programme industry, members can also get their dogs’ paw-prints all over the matchday magazine. “Fans can apply for their canine companions to be featured in a matchday programme and even have their favourite photos featured on the big screens at the stadium ahead of the game,” trilled a Spurs statement. Tottenham Hotspaw co-chair Leah Kreitzman added: “For many of us, there are no stronger bonds than the ones we have with our dogs and our football club – now we can bring these two things together with Tottenham Hotspaw.”