Georgia overcame Greece on penalties (4-2) after a tense 0-0 draw at Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena to qualify for the UEFA
European Championships for the first time in their history.
Georgia’s Nika Kvekveskiri held his nerve to take the decisive penalty after misses from Giorgos Giakoumakis and Anastasios
Bakasetas.
With so much at stake, the vocal home crowd witnessed a ferocious start with both sides flying into tackles, though it was the Greeks who threatened more intensively in the opening stages.
There was little to separate the sides throughout the first half, but Georgia came agonisingly close to the opener just before HT, when Giorgi Chakvetadze’s free-kick forced a fingertip save from Odysseas Vlachodimos.
The combative nature of the game resulted in a flurry of yellow cards as the half wore on,
and it spilled over into a mass scuffle which resulted in substitute goalkeeper Giorgi Loria being shown a straight red card for violent conduct.
After that temperamental twist, the usual pattern continued after the break with neither side willing to over-commit in attack. Instead, tactical fouling from both sides ensured the match couldn’t build any kind of rhythm.
As the match entered the final 10 minutes, the players on both sides looked anxious in possession, knowing that a mistake could decide the match, and that lack of bravery on the ball saw the game drift into extra time, after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia drilled a free-kick into the wall from a promising position with the final action of the second half.
Greece started 30 gruelling minutes of ET the stronger, and almost found the vital breakthrough, when Konstantinos Mavropanos rose highest to power a header at goal, but the ball crashed against the crossbar and bounced clear.
The hosts responded with a big chance of their own, when Georges Mikautadze showed great composure to pick out Zuriko Davitashvili in the box, but Vlachodimos made an outstanding reflex save from close-range to keep the scores level.
Penalties were needed after a scoreless 120 minutes, and with the score standing 3-2 in Georgia’s favour after Giakoumakis dragged his penalty wide, it came down to Kvekveskiri to be the hero, as he tucked away the decisive spot-kick to send Georgia to the Euro finals for the first time in their history and sparked jubilant scenes among the home fans.
