Kvaratskhelia, as Georgia’s sole superstar, is one of the wonders of international football

Several hours before the game, having heard scare stories about the public transport around Gelsenkirchen, the No 7 shirts marched towards the stadium, from miles away, in every direction, on foot.

The shirts were all sorts of colours — mostly red, some white, some black-and-white-striped, some green-and-white-hooped, and a large number of yellow and blue. But they all had No 7 on the back. This was, for many, a pilgrimage to see Cristiano Ronaldo. But only one of them got their hands on the actual No 7 jersey of the man himself — his opposite number.

“I said that I would get his jersey, and I did,” said Georgia’s No 7 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia afterwards. “Before the match, there was a meeting between us, and he wished me success. It meant so much for me, because I never imagined he would come and say something to me. He’s a great player and a great person, inside and outside of football.

“I have so much respect for him, he inspires young players so much and we learn so much from him. He’s one of the greatest players in the world, and when he came to me before the match, wished me success, that was amazing — and it made me realise we could do something today.”

Kvaratskhelia stole the show, hitting the opener on the break in the second minute, after young Portugal defender Antonio Silva misplaced a pass and then found himself out of position. That position, the right-sided role in Portugal’s back three, was always likely to be their key in a defensive sense — against Georgia’s sole superstar. But Silva had a disastrous evening, making the mistake for the first goal, and conceding the penalty for the second. Kvaratskhelia ran riot.

The No 7s swapped shirts at the end (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

This is one of the wonders of international football — the fact that an otherwise unglamorous footballing nation can produce one of its continent’s most exciting footballers. Think George Best for Northern Ireland, Hristo Stoichkov for Bulgaria or George Weah for Liberia. Or in more recent times, Gareth Bale for Wales, Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Armenia or Mohamed Salah for Egypt.

Georgia is no stranger to producing top-class footballers — No 10 Giorgi Kinkladze lit up the Premier League in the 1990s, striker Shota Arveladze starred for Ajax and Rangers at the turn of the the century, and left-back Kakha Kaladze won the European Cup with Milan. Kaladze is, incidentally, now the mayor of Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. After tonight, he should surely hand Kvaratskhelia the freedom of the city.

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Kvaratskhelia, of course, hasn’t come from nowhere — although he did a couple of years ago. The poster boy for Napoli’s memorable title victory in 2022/23, he took on the role of Diego Maradona in one of the most pressurised footballing cities in Europe. Previously playing in Russia with Rubin Kazan, after the invasion of Ukraine foreign players in Russia were allowed to suspend their contracts. Kvaratskhelia headed back to Georgia with Dinamo Batumi, having come through the ranks at Dinamo Tbilisi.

Napoli’s key summer signing on the way to ending their 33-year wait for the league title therefore came from what was then ranked the 47th-best league in Europe. Only North Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Wales, Gibraltar, Iceland, Montenegro, Andorra and San Marino were lower in UEFA’s coefficient rankings. He was a revelation — the only player in Serie A in 2022-23 to reach double figures in terms of goals and assists. And, more than anything else, he attempted more dribbles than anyone else in the league too.

A revelation at Napoli (Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

That dribbling ability was crucial tonight. If you’re a side like Georgia, likely to sit back, soak up pressure and play on the break, the best type of player to have is a speedy dribbler. Their transitions were excellent — rarely clearing the ball and instead looking for one of the front two with direct forward passes. Kvaratskhelia could break downfield at speed, while his France-born strike partner Georges Mikautadze played clever lay-offs to midfield runners and then attacked into the channels. “To some of the players, I said to remember when you were 16, 17, 18, playing without fear,” said Willy Sagnol (pictured top). “Today, play exactly the same.“

The second-minute goal, of course, made the pattern of the game even more extreme. “We conceded early, and that’s what Georgia needed,” rued Roberto Martinez, who said Portugal didn’t underestimate their opponents, and he knew all about the quality of their star man. “Kvicha is one of the best dribbling players with a final action in the top five European leagues,” he said.

Georgia aren’t a one-man band, and at times his team-mates find Kvaratskhelia frustrating. Midway through the first half he shot wastefully into the side-netting with team-mates better placed in the middle, forcing a couple of them to throw their hands up into the air.

But ultimately they look for him whenever possible. The best example came when Georgia cleared a corner and then Giorgi Chakvetadze briefly found himself clear of every Portugal defender, albeit still in his own half. Knowing he didn’t have the speed to run through on goal, he turned back, played in Kvaratskhelia, who had three defenders between him and the goal and dribbled forward to win a free kick, relieving the pressure.

There was another moment in the second half when Georgia played a slick transition, found Kvaratskhelia as quickly as possible, and his twinkle toes kept the ball away from three opponents, again drawing a foul and getting Georgia up the pitch. Time and time again, he was an out ball, carrying it downfield — not always as he did with Napoli, to cross or score, but almost as a form of defence, getting the ball away from the Georgian goal, and to see out the victory that takes them into the knockout stage.

Afterwards, Kvaratskhelia was asked to compare today’s win to the Scudetto win at Napoli. A tough question to answer, but in a relatively emotion-free manner, he was clear. “This is the best day of my life,” Kvaratskhelia declared. “Because it is more difficult to do it with the Georgian team than with the Napoli team.” That difficulty, and these unlikely triumphs, is what makes the international game so great.

(Top photo: Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images)