Georgia are playing in their first-ever major tournament at Euro 2024 and the debutants evidently don't want to go home early.
As the final round of group games kicked off on Wednesday evening, Willy Sagnol's men knew that they must beat Portugal - who have already topped Group F - if they were to have any hope of qualifying for the last 16.
This came after an entertaining 3-1 defeat to Turkey was followed by a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic to leave up to two qualification places up for grabs as the group stage came to a close.
VIDEO: Why You Finally Saw The REAL England Against Slovenia (For About 2 Minutes)
With first place in the group safely sewn up after wins in both of their opening group stage games, Portugal made eight changes to their line-up, although captain Cristiano Ronaldo did retain his place in the side.
But it was a nightmare start for one of the players who did come in, as Antonio Silva gave away the ball near the halfway line. Georgia were able to counter immediately, with Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia shooting across goalkeeper Diogo Costa from the left-hand side of the area to give his side the lead with just 92 seconds on the clock.
It was the perfect start for the team ranked 74th in the FIFA world rankings, while an early red card for the Czech Republic's Antonin Barak against Turkey was another boost for their qualification hopes.
It's a DREAM start for Georgia! 🇬🇪Khvicha Kvaratskhelia takes full advantage of a terrible Portugal mistake 😳#Euro2024 | #GEOPOR pic.twitter.com/IIdtXSbUAeJune 26, 2024
And for goalscorer Kvaratskhelia, it showed that the 23-year-old was not letting recent transfer speculation get to him on a day when Napoli club president Aurelio De Laurentiis went on the record over his future at the Italian side.
De Laurentiis was speaking at the unveiling of new Napoli boss Antonio Conte, when the issue of Kvaratskhelia’s future came up amid a recent war of words and further rumours that Paris Saint-Germain are closing in on his signature.
“There are no problems with Kvara because we have a contract,” he said. “We’ll make an offer for a new deal, so I see no problems for him. That being said, somebody can even offer contracts to the players without the club’s authorisation.”
Get a free live stream to watch Euro 2024 from anywhere in the world ahead of the summer's big tournament
More Euro 2024 stories
PSG need ‘something crazy’ to sign Liverpool-linked star as transfer saga turns ugly: report
'Tears of joy' Giorgi Kinkladze says the nation's debut Euros can make Georgia believe
Euro 2024: Ukraine achieve brand new European Championship feat during draw with Belgium
