More than half of the Georgian squad consider Cristiano Ronaldo to be the inspiration to help lead the team to historic achievements at Euro 2024.
After the final whistle of the final match of Group F at Veltins Stadium in Gelsenkirchen, the entire Georgian team rushed onto the pitch in celebration, except for one person. Georgian football star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia initially intended to rush onto the pitch with a beaming face, but he suddenly stopped, restrained his emotions and went towards Ronaldo to shake his hand and hug him in encouragement.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (right) and Cristiano Ronaldo after Georgia’s victory over Portugal at Veltins Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany, the final round of Group F Euro on the evening of June 26, 2024. Photo: screenshot
After receiving the congratulations, Kvaratskhelia put her arm around the Portuguese captain again and said something that made him laugh. Then, the 23-year-old midfielder ran to share the joy with his teammates. That moment was posted by UEFA on social network X , attracting more than 10 million views in less than a day.
“Kvaratskhelia pursues her dream, Ronaldo makes it come true,” commented @NikolasRMFC .
@ miraclejoe241 responded: “That’s amazing. Everyone can see he really admires Ronaldo.”
And @ elonmuskofabuja commented: “Ronaldo’s influence on world football is unmatched.”
After entering the dressing room, Kvaratskhelia also posted a picture of the best player award, placed on the shirt Ronaldo had just worn to the match. “Dreams,” wrote the player who scored the opening goal in Georgia’s 2-0 win .
Kvaratskhelia is Georgia’s most prominent player at the moment, having won the Serie A best player award in the 2022-2023 season with Napoli. But not only him, more than half of Georgia’s current first-team squad consider Ronaldo a source of inspiration for their football, including attacking midfielder Giorgi Chakvetadze. “I still remember the moment Ronaldo took a free kick against Arsenal in the 2009 Champions League semi-final, from afar,” said the Georgian No. 10. “Ronaldo was also in the first match I watched live.”
Ronaldo’s influence on Georgian football did not stop there, he himself came to Tsibili to inspire young players in 2013. At that time, Ronaldo was at the peak of his career at Real Madrid at the age of 28, while the Georgian players were just boys.
Ronaldo visited, talked and took pictures with the Dinamo Tbilisi youth team. The photo of him with those young players suddenly became popular after 11 years, because almost half of the Georgian team that played against Portugal were in that photo, such as Kvaratskhelia, Chakvetadze, goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, midfielder Zuriko Davitashvili, Giorgi Kochorashvili and Anzor Mekvabishvili.
Ronaldo poses with players from the Dinamo Tbilisi football academy in Georgia in 2013, many of whom will later become Euro 2024 squad members.
Ronaldo may have come to the club at the invitation of the president, when Dinamo Tbilisi’s new academy was established. But he probably didn’t expect that his presence would become a source of inspiration and motivation for the young players to strive. Georgian newspaper Alia called it a “historic photo”, while Ambebi commented: “This picture is like a father and his children”.
Georgian football was very different before Ronaldo, when they were ranked 100th in the world, according to FIFA in October 2013. They always ranked last or second to last in World Cup or Euro qualifiers. After 11 years, Georgia has climbed to 74th in FIFA, participated in a major tournament like Euro for the first time, and even reached the round of 16 thanks to a win over Portugal.
Of course, Georgia’s current success is largely due to the Dinamo Tbilisi club’s training academy, as most of the current players grew up in this team. Being able to train together since childhood, or growing up with the same football philosophy, are important reasons that helped the team considered the weakest at Euro 2024 to pass the group stage.
Georgia, located on the Caucasus Peninsula, is a bridge between Europe and Asia, with a population of only 3.7 million. Of the 37 Georgian players who played for the national team in 2013, none played for a club in the top 5 European leagues at the time.
Kvaratskhelia celebrates opening the scoring against Portugal. Photo: Reuters
Currently, they have three such players: goalkeeper Mamardashvili, midfielder Kvaratskhelia and striker Georges Mikautadze. Mamardashvili made the most saves in the group stage, Mikautadze was the top scorer and Kvaratskhelia remains the inspiration for the team’s style of play, nicknamed “Kvaradona”. After Euro 2024, more Georgian players are expected to move to big clubs.
“Georgia is a dark horse, but they don’t play like a dark horse at all,” Yahoo Sport commented. “They don’t play concrete and wait for counter-attacks, but are ready to play an open game with Turkey, Czech Republic and Portugal. And they will continue to play like that in the round of 16 against Spain. Never take your eyes off the Georgian players, not even for a second.”
Ahead of Georgia’s historic match in Gelsenkirchen, right-back Otar Kiteishvili said he was a Ronaldo fan and considered the 39-year-old to be the greatest player of all time. “However, we will do everything we can to stop Ronaldo from scoring,” he added. “I hope he complains as much as possible.”
Main events of the match Georgia 2-0 Portugal.
Kiteishvili was right, as they really made Ronaldo angry several times, to the point of receiving a yellow card in a situation where the referee did not award a penalty. In the 65th minute, right before Ronaldo was substituted, Kvaratskhelia showed off his technique by dribbling past a series of Portuguese players, before being fouled.
And Ronaldo? On his way off the pitch, he kicked his water bottle in anger. But after the final whistle, the 39-year-old striker was still happy to congratulate Kvaratskhelia. “That moment reminded us why we love football,” commented @nathaliemayy .
