Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, forward of the Georgia national team, was named as the player of the match. He held a post-match press conference after beating Portugal 2:0.

“In my opinion, nobody was the best today. Everybody played very well and it is a team victory. We proved that we can play any team. We respect everybody but we play for victory on the pitch. Now we are very happy but from tomorrow we will concentrate on the next match.

I have Ronaldo’s jersey. We won the match and wrote a new page in history. When there is faith, even a 1 per cent chance, everything is possible and we proved that the Georgia national team can do everything.

The fans gave us a lot of energy. Many people came to Germany to support us. Many thanks to all of them and, of course, those who are in Georgia too.

Before the match, Ronaldo wished me good luck. It was a big motivation for me. I have never imagined that he would come up to me and say that. He is a very good person, a great motivation for young people. We learn a lot from him. When he wished me good luck, it was exciting and I realized that today anything was possible.

Winning Scudetto in Napoli was very memorable day but today is the happiest day of my life. Playing for the national team is something to be proud of. When I started my career, it was my dream to play for the national team and today we are in the playoffs of the European Championship.

We respect Spain a lot. We have played each other many times. Spain is also a favorite, like Portugal but today we have proved that we can play any team. There is not an easy opponent at the European Championship.

We, players are very happy that we made the Georgian people happy once again. Probably, number 26 should go down in history. Today we wrote new history. I have not seen what it is happening in Tbilisi yet but I can imagine and many thanks to them”, - said Kvaratskhelia.

Georgia will face Spain in 1/8 final of the EURO 2024 on June 30 in Koln.

WORLDSPORT.GE from Gelsenkirchen