Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of Georgia vs Czech Republic from Group F of Euro 2024. Both sides will consider themselves unlucky to have lost their openers – Georgia, who were yay close to an equaliser against Turkey in that Dortmund torrent, have to be praised for being so prepared to bet the house on it that they were mugged on the break with their goalie up for a corner. The Czech Republic were leading against Portugal in Leipzig until Robin Hranach put through his own goal and Johnny on the Spot, Supersub Francisco Conceicao, pounced in the 92nd minute to spark Portuguese pandemonium and what looked suspiciously like some Cristiano Ronaldo goading.
Given that Georgia had to rely on the Nations League route to qualify for a shot via the play-offs after finishing fourth in a group with Spain, Scotland, Norway and Cyprus, hope trumped expectation in the build-up. But those bold wing-backs, the excellent Giorgi Chakvetadze and Napoli’s sensational Khvicha Kvaratskhelia carried enough threat to keep trading blows with Turkey throughout.
Czech Republic, who finished second in their qualifying group behind Albania, having lost in Tirana, are not as thrilling to watch but have intelligent, raw-boned players, tactically adept and canny, plus the terrific Patrik Schick up front. They are primarily a defensive team as they showed against Portugal, thwarting then breaking, and their manager, Ivan Hasek, feels only tweaks are necessary in Hamburg today. “We showed that we have a big heart, cohesion, that we can be aggressive, sacrifice for each other,” he said. “If we go into the next matches like this, we will be even more active and show a little – or rather a lot – more forward, we can be successful.”