Hero Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georgia defeated Portugal, making history at EURO 2024, revealing that Ronaldo himself motivated him to achieve great success.
Georgia created a spectacular surprise, winning 2-0 against Portugal, with Kvaratskhelia opening the scoring after just 92 seconds and the other goal coming from the penalty spot from Georges Mikautadze, who currently leads the list of top scorers in EURO 2024 – 3 goals.
Kvaratskhelia’s happiness after achieving great success for Georgia
The victory sent Georgia into the round of 16 of EURO 2024, against Spain, in its first appearance at the European football tournament.
In boundless happiness after the final whistle, hero Kvaratskhelia boasted of owning the jersey of Ronaldo – the captain of Portugal, whom he idolized since childhood.
“I received the shirt of Ronaldo and Georgia reached the 1/8 round of EURO 2024”, Kvaratskhelia was full of excitement and pride.
Kvaratskhelia happily showed off her Ronaldo jersey on her personal page
The 23-year-old striker added: “This is the best day for Georgia football fans. We made history, no one thought we could do it.
But we defeated Portugal and got tickets to continue. Georgia showed how strong a team it is. Even if there is only a 1% chance, we will work hard to make it happen.”
Kvaratskhelia revealed that she received ‘inspiration’ from… Portugal captain Ronaldo: “Before the match, I received words of encouragement from Ronaldo. He wished me success. I never thought he would come and talk to me.
Kvaratskhelia was a young boy when Ronaldo visited the Dinamo Tbilis Football Academy in Georgia 11 years ago and last night he had the opportunity to face and win against his idol with Portugal!
Ronaldo is a great player, great person. When he comes and talks to you, it gives great motivation and we won today.”
Before the final round of Group F against group leader Portugal, Georgia ranked last and almost no one believed they would defeat Ronaldo and his teammates.
However, the unexpected happened and Georgia deserved the ticket to continue with 4 points, being one of the 4 teams ranked 3rd with the best performance in the group stage.