Khvicha Kvaratskhelia relishes ‘best day’ in Georgians’ lives after Euro 2024 upset – and gets prize of Ronaldo shirt
The forward not only inspired Georgia to the knockout stages of Euro 2024 on Wednesday, he also realized his own childhood dream by doing so against Cristiano Ronaldo.
Georgia is the lowest-ranked team at this year’s European Championship and few gave the nation a chance of progressing out of the group stages in what is its debut appearance at a major tournament.
But against all odds, the Crusaders produced a memorable performance to secure a deserved 2-0 Group F win against Portugal, thanks to a second-minute goal from Kvaratskhelia and a second-half penalty from Georges Mikautadze.
The full-time whistle sparked jubilant scenes on the pitch and in the stands, with tears of joy flowing around the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.
Meanwhile, fireworks lit up the sky of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, after the win, with fans flooding out onto the streets to celebrate the historic achievement.
“This is the best day in the lives of Georgians,” Kvaratskhelia told reporters after the game, per Reuters.
“Everybody is so happy, we just made history. Nobody would believe that we would make it happen and we would defeat Portugal. But I think this is why we’re a strong team.”
Videos on social media showed the Georgian players continuing their celebrations back in the locker room, with Kvaratskhelia wearing Ronaldo’s shirt.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo had been frustrated for much of the match but had given his shirt to an emotional Kvaratskhelia following the defeat.
Ronaldo encouragement
Before the match on Wednesday, a picture from 2013 was circulating on social media of Ronaldo standing in the middle of a group of young children on a trip to Tbilisi. One of those children was Kvaratskhelia, who later posted it to his Instagram Story.
The Napoli forward also spoke to his childhood hero before the match and said Ronaldo had wished him luck.
“When he comes to you before the match and when he says that I wish you success, that is amazing,” Kvaratskhelia added.
“I realized that actually I could do and we could do so many things today because it gave us so much incentive.”
Before celebrating with his teammates, Kvaratskhelia ran over to console Ronaldo after the full time whistle – Portugal still qualified as group winners despite the defeat.
Georgia’s talisman then posted a photo of Ronaldo’s shirt with his Man of the Match award on Instagram, with the caption “Dreams.”
Despite helping Napoli win the Serie A title in 2023, Kvaratskhelia said that beating Portugal and reaching the knockout stages with his country was the biggest achievement of his career to date.
“This is the best day in my life because it was more difficult to do it with the Georgian team than with the Napoli team,” he said.
“There was no individual best player,” he said. “It was teamwork and we proved to anyone that we could really play.”
Georgia will need to count on Kvaratskhelia again when it plays Spain in the last 16 on Sunday, if it stands any chance of going deeper in the tournament.
Football was the sport played between Georgia and Portugal, with Kvaratskhelia scoring the opening goal in the second minute. Amidst their celebrations, Kvaratskhelia was seen wearing Ronaldo's shirt, a gesture made by the Portugal captain after the defeat. Earlier, Kvaratskhelia had posted a picture of him with Ronaldo from 2013 on his Instagram Story, and Ronaldo had encouraged Kvaratskhelia before the match, wishing him success.
