Georgia head coach Willy Sagnol reveals the clear and simple message he sent to his players ahead of Wednesday’s Euro 2024 contest with Portugal.
Georgia head coach Willy Sagnol has revealed that he sent a clear and simple message to his players ahead of Wednesday’s Euro 2024 contest with Portugal.
The Crusaders, competing in their first-ever major tournament, needed to beat Portugal in order to book their spot in the knockout round of the European Championship.
On a historic night for Georgian football, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze found the back of the net to secure a two-goal success over Roberto Martinez‘s side.
Sagnol has said that he told his players to “just play” and asked them to remember how they operated during their teenage years.
“Play your football, keep discipline when you don’t have the ball and when you have it, just play,” Sagnol said when asked about his pre-game message.
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Georgia secure famous win over Portugal
“To some players, I even told them, remember when you were 16, 17, 18, you were playing without any foes, then do exactly the same. And I think they did it brilliantly today, above all expectations.
“There are benefits to being tournament underdogs. When you’re the small team, you know you have nothing to lose.
“The only thing we said before the competition is whatever happened, we don’t want any regrets after the competition, the regret of maybe not having played our football or maybe not having enjoyed the competition as much as we should have done.
“So, you have no weight on your shoulders. It’s difficult when you’re France, when you’re England, when you’re Spain, when you’re Portugal, because you’re under pressure, because people expect you to win.
“The only responsibility we had was to make the Georgian nation proud of their players. And I think we’ve done it the best way.
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Georgia will face Spain in the round of 16
“When you look at our bench, it’s not the most exciting in terms of football quality – but it is in terms of human quality. I’m very, very happy. I thought qualifying was our maximum but football is never written before.”
Georgia’s reward for overcoming Portugal is a clash against Spain in the round of 16, with that contest taking place on Sunday evening.
“We didn’t even try to know before the match if we would win, we would play maybe against this team or maybe this team, because we’re not like that,” Sagnol added.
“We just take the things the way it comes. And Spain is coming. Spain is probably the best team of the first round. So it’s another big challenge for us.”
As a player, Sagnol was a World Cup finalist with France in 2006, while he famously turned out for German giants Bayern Munich during a successful club career.
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