A well-known hot June night, the stadium under Gorica... George Mikautadze, the guy who just a few days later will lead the list of the best scorers in the European principality, shook the net of Montenegro and celebrated the goal in front of about 3.000 people in a way that is now known to the whole world - as if watching through binoculars.
Few among those 3.000 who at that moment, just five days before the start of the Euros, knew who Mikautadze was, apart from the superstar Kvaracheli shouts and the great goalkeeper of Valencia Giorgi Mamardashvili, few have heard of other Georgian players.
And, on that very day in the capital of Montenegro, in a way, history began to be written - of football in the country from the Black Sea, but also of European championships.
The debutant in major competitions decided to play the only preparatory match before the Euro against the "falcon".
And, while maybe the rest of the Old Continent only fell in love with the team during the tournament Vilija Sanjol, Montenegro saw on June 9 what a good team it was - Kvarachelija immediately announced what a temptation it would be for Turkey, the Czech Republic and Portugal, Mikautadze how cool he is, Mamardashvili confident, and I push Kashi that the great captain...
The victory of the "Crusaders" by 3:1 and the inscription on the scoreboard near Gorica "Good luck at the Euros" symbolically heralded the great story of Georgia, which as a debutant and outsider reached the round of XNUMX of the European Championship.
Why are you going there?
Maybe Georgia has several masters in the team, the magician Kvarachelia, but it seems that nothing would have happened if Willi Sanjol, once a great defender of the French national team and Bayern Munich, but also a coach without much experience, had not arrived in Tbilisi in February 2021.
- Many people from my environment then asked me why I was going there... Now I can tell everyone - you see that hard work always pays off - Sanjol told "Atletik".
The expert who made an extremely compact and dangerous selection also revealed what he told the players before the deciding match against Portugal at the Euro.
- It was simple - I just asked them if they remember how fear didn't exist when they played at 16 or 17 years old. Now that's all I wanted from them and they played that historic game without fear - emphasized Sanjol.
Spain and 7:1, nine months later
Great games in the group stage brought Georgia another match for history - against Spain, against the selection that showed the most at the Euros, and which just nine months ago in the qualifiers with as much as 7:1 in Tbilisi demolished Sanjol's team.
The "Crusaders" finished the qualifiers in penultimate place, behind the "red fury", Scotland and Norway, and just ahead of Cyprus, but they knew that they had a chance for the Euros in the League of Nations play-off and did not miss a historic chance against Luxembourg in the semi-finals, then against Greece in the final.
Now across the road they will have Spain again. Clearly they are Rodri, Lamin Jamal, Alvaro Morata and the comrades are big favorites again, but nobody can forbid the dream of a new miracle for Georgia. After all, it's a much different team now than the one in September 2023.
Bonus video:
