Georgia vs Greece: Post match reaction

By Alec McQuarrie

Cyprus, Montenegro, Armenia, Estonia, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Iceland, Luxembourg, Finland (twice), Northern Ireland (twice), Faroe Islands (twice).

They all can count themselves conquerors of Greece since the Ethniki last reached a major tournament.

They all find themselves below Greece in the FIFA rankings.

Georgia is now one of them.

Despite its immeasurable influence on the English language, ‘underachieve’ is not a Greek word. But perhaps it should be.

‘Catastrophe’ fittingly does have Hellenic roots, as does ‘tragedy’ - which literally translates as ‘goat song.’

The mercury was down to 4ºC (39°F) in Tbilisi on Tuesday evening, in stark contrast to the oppressive, red-hot atmosphere inside the Boris Paichadze National Stadium. And so, the stage was set for the latest Greek goat song.

You could see the effect the partisan crowd had on the home side almost immediately. Georgia set up compact in defence and explosive in transition. This had worked a treat against Luxembourg, and now the volume had been cranked up a notch or two. Even Lasha Dvali’s big toe seemed to grow a few inches under instruction from the Georgian masses when the centre-half slid in to deny Fotis Ioannidis a clear run on goal.

This was a battle, pure and simple. Loose balls weren’t loose for very long, and every stray Greek pass was met with howls of derision from the stands. And as for the plan to nullify Kvicha Kvaratskhelia? Kick him, hard.

Unsurprisingly, it was a game of few chances and even fewer shots. In spite of what the head-to-head record might tell you, this was a very even matchup. In the first half, Ioannidis was feeding off scraps - in both senses of the word - and Kostas Tsimikas’ crosses were finding the gloves of Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili with uncharacteristic regularity.

Mass melees are usually reserved for the full-time whistle, but such was the ferocity of the first-half that both sets of players decided to bring it forward by an hour. If the visitors didn’t know they were in for a fight, they did now.

Gus Poyet’s substitutions on the hour made a tonne of sense. The yellow-carded George Baldock needed replacing more for his own sake than anything else. Greece also needed a spark, and who could better provide one than Giannis Konstantelias?

No doubt Greece improved by their introductions, but Mamardashvili had precious little to do in the Georgian net. Zero shots on target and one shot inside the box inside 90 minutes tells its own story.

Extra time came, and suddenly both teams realised there was a football match to be won. Poyet’s side had a flurry of chances, including Konstantinos Mavropanos slamming the frame of the goal with a bullet header. 

You can tell yourself Greece should win it in extra time. You can pore over the statistics until your eyes are sore. You can tell yourself a hard luck story. But the brutal truth of it is that neither team deserve to win the match. And so, to penalties.

Georgia immediately had the advantage for two reasons: they were at home, and they went first. Both have been statistically proven to increase your chances of winning a shoot-out, and the change in odds is not insignificant, especially for a game of this magnitude.

Besides, as in every great Greek goat song, the hero must suffer a downfall. Anastasios Bakasetas had scored all five of his latest penalties for his country, but not this time. The less said about Giorgos Giakoumakis’ spot kick, the better.

The recriminations have already begun and so they should. Fans can, and will, point to selections, tactics and substitutions, all of which falls squarely on Poyet’s shoulders. Greece were not good enough. It is as simple as that.

But don’t underestimate the power of the crowd in a match like this. Greece have only lost one game on home soil since November 2021, and that was via a 93rd-minute penalty from Virgil van Dijk. Their opponents have only lost once in Tbilisi in the same timeframe.

So in a cruel twist of fate, it could be argued that Greece’s tragedy was set in motion in June 2022. In what seemed like a completely inconsequential get together between old friends, Cyprus claimed their only win of the Nations League, and consigned the Ethniki to their only defeat. That would be enough to give Georgia home advantage for the play-offs, and boy did they use it.

A decade is a long time. The wait goes on.

@A_McQuarrie
Hellas Football