Key events
40 min Turkey win a free-kick well right of centre, 25 yards out, so of course Calhanoglu will shoot … directly into the wall. But Turkey soon win him another chance, way out on the left…
38 min “On the issue of the amount of teams, says Martin Wright, “that there are too many is usually a criticism one only hears from fans in ‘big countries’ whose teams are generally assured of qualifying anyway. For those in less successful countries (i.e. nearly all of Europe), the expanded opportunity to play at a tournament is welcomed, and all the benefits that flow from that. There’s more at stake than just the TV viewing pleasure of major nation fans.”
I sort of agree. The reason the richer countries know they’ll qualify is that the tournament is so big it’s impossible for them not to. But I agree it’s great for those now able to make it, and though it is mad to play 36 games to bin eight teams, we get the viewing pleasure you mention, Georgians, say, get to watch their team, and the money gets shared out a bit more than otherwise.
37 min Here come Georgia again, Kakabadze finding Kvaratskhelia, who weaves across the face of the box but can’t quite find a shooting lane.
34 min Oh man, Georgia are into this now, Chakvetadze flipping over the top from just outside the box for Kochorashvili to head back across … and here’s Mikautadze in the middle, falling left and sending his volley in the same direction … but just wide of the far post! This is a game!
33 min Test for Turkey now.
GOAL! Turkey 1-1 Georgia (Mikautadze 32)
WHAT A MOMENT! Lovely from Kochorashvili, isolating Yildiz down the right side of the box then tossing lollipops before dipping outside, crossing … and Mikautadze turns with the path of the ball inside the near post! I wonder if Gunok might’ve saved it but frankly, who cares? Georgia have their debut tournament goal and this is why we’re here! Incredible!
NO GOAL! Turkey 1-0 Georgia
28 min I know we all love the drawing of lines on screens, but semi-automated offside tells us in seconds that the goal must be disallowed. Of course, this was technology available last season, which the Premier League rejected.
27 min But was Yildiz offside? I don’t think the ball gets to him if Kokcu leaves it, so we can’t blame him, but I do think he’s ahead of it.
GOAL! Turkey 2-0 Georgia (Yildiz 27)
Turkare ravaging Georgia now and a little loss of discipline offers them space in behind … and they don’t refuse it! Ayhan turns a pass into the outside-right channel, Guler crosses low, Kokcu turns it one more, and Yildiz taps home at the back stick with joyous zest!
WHAT A GOAL! Turkey 1-0 Georgia (Muldur 25)
Turkey attack down the left – they’re so comfy on the ball – and Kadioglu, sent down the side of the box after a lovely triangle, crosses, the ball headed out to the edge … whereupon Muldur, the right-back, strikes across a beauty, his contact perfect and the ball howling into the top-right corner! That is the goal Pavard’s thinks it was.
24 min “Like Justin Madson,” says Joe Pearson, “I am also disgusted with Fox Sports. It’s like the food is bad and the portions are small. But I can suggest an audio alternative. Talkpport (and 2) are available here in the USA, either via the internet or their app. Generally, if a game is not broadcast here, we can follow the coverage there.”
I bet Jamie O’Hara has some insights on Georgia’s OOP structure.
23 min Like the long winter evenings in the Ploppy household, the first half of this first half has just flown by.
21 min A ball in to Calhanoglu and his touch is poor but actually works out nicely, allowing him to spin and shoot … wide.
20 min What I’m enjoying is that even the teams sitting back – Romania, Slovakia and now Georgia – are, when they’ve the ball, looking to make stuff happen. in fact might it be only England who’ve deliberately stodged their way to victory?
18 min “Can we all admit that while we’re addicts and want more matches,” begins Zach Neeley, “24 teams is too many and things would be more fun back at 16? So far the group matches have felt more like the last few qualifiers than the real tournament.”
It is too many, I agree, and I was actually about to wonder if the attacking conviction with which most teams have played will dissipate by the knockouts. But I’m still enjoying it, so.
16 min Turkey play with tremendous tempo – they move it from side to side as I type, every pass is purposeful. I hope Roberto De Zerbi is watching – and Fabian Hürzeler for that matter.
14 min Back come Turkey, a short throw going to Ayhan, who finds Yildiz, and his shot from a narrow angle is parried clear by Mamardashvili.
11 min Georgia, though, aren’t sitting back, and they work a shooting opportunity for Mekvabishvili, his effort from thee edge flicking off Kadioglu … and forcing Gunok to shovel away! That was good from the keeper because he’d already and understandably moved away from the ball by the time he had to field it.
10 min This is a terrific start from Turkey and after Ayhan holds up well, he moves forward in time to be teed-up by Yildiz, leathering low, hard … and against the near post! The ball the shoots away from goal and he must’ve thought he’d scored there – he caught his effort gorgeously.
10 min Another left-wing corner for Turkey and this time, Bardacki does impart brow to ball, but coming through three defenders, he can only direct his effort wide.
8 min “I live in Croatia,” brags Robert Jenkins who I hope is enjoying the splendid ice cream, “and have lost count of the number of times Croats have asked ‘what was that keeper called?’, to which I’ve said ‘I think it was Scott Carson’ and they have roared with laughter. The brolly and Wayne Bridge don’t get a mention.”
They’re missing out; it’s your duty to educate them.
6 min Turkey win a corner down the left, Guler swings it in … and Bardacki can’t get a head on it because someone else – Kokcu I think – bumps it over the bar.
6 min Is it just me who sees the name Georgia and thinks “I’m loyal?”
5 min Now here come Georgia down the left, Kvaratskhelia crossing … and Akaydin humping clear.
4 min Guler lofts a ball to the back post, but it’s slightly overhit and Kocku can’t extend his neck by sufficient measure to redirect it.
3 min Georgia are engaging high up the pitch – more Slovakia v Belgium than Romania v Ukraine; the Romanias won with the least possession ever recorded in victory, 20-something percent.
2 min Already, Turkey dominate possession, and again, the camera angle is high; Hitchcock would love it.
1 min Georgia get us going! This is their debut tournament appearance, and what an atmosphere it’s in, the Turkey fans giving it everything.
“Terrible debuts,” says Stuart Mackenzie. “Can I nominate Graeme Souness’ debut as player manager for Rangers in 1986, sent off after 30 minutes for trademark thuggery, as his team went down to Hibs. See here for some recollections from the opponent who caused the red mist to make an appearance. To be fair, Souness and Rangers did go on to win the title that year.”
I remember it well; a season also famed for one of the great Old Firm rows.
What’s yellow and red all over? The Yellow Wall! Or something.
As you might expect given Germany’s Turkish contingent, after jeering the Georgia anthem, they belt out their own.
Gosh, we see a kid crysinging and I’m gone. This is what it’s all about, people.
I know I whinged in yesterday’s Daily about 36 games to eliminate eight of 24 teams, and it makes no sporting sense. But football is about more than sport, and when you see the Georgia fans and team having the moments and times of their lives, what on earth can you say? This anthem time is going to be special.
…and here they come!
Our players are tunnelled…
I know it’s not our game but Portugal are coming tonight, so: how on earth did Roberto Martínez get the coach’s job after not exactly killing it with Belgium? And is he really the man to tell Ronaldo he looks good in splinters?
“When I saw that pic of the flailing Georgian trying to punch the Turk,” writes Barry Foley, “the scene from Silicon Valley where Richard misses the wall when trying to punch it came to mind. (I really hope Gilfoyle was sitting just behind your man with a withering comment).
I wish I understood this; i don’t, but assume others might. On that photo, though, imagine having to explain that to work and home on your return. “If you look, you’ll see I didn’t actually punch him…”
And of course there’s a Simpson’s scene to illustrate it.
“As a Watford fan, I’m excited to see how Chakvetadze gets on today,” says Ross White. “He was a rare bright spot in an otherwise fairly dull season for us last year, so hoping he has a good tournament and comes back brimming with confidence and elite-level know-how. Whatever the case, he’s surely going to have a better opener than Watford’s other Euros person of interest, Ryan Porteous… Not sure it’s possible to have much worse?”
Yup, he’ll go down in history for the intensity of his shocker – please feel free to send in other examples, Jonathan Woodgate’s Madrid debut being one such. Other mares I enjoy: Tiemoué Bakayoko for Chelsea at Watford – you might mind that one – and Wayne Bridge for England v Croatia.
Georgia, meanwhile, are set up to smother. Five at the back, three in front, and leave it to Mikautadze and Kvaratskhelia in particular to do something.
Back to the teams, Turkey aren’t going to die wondering – Hakan Calhanoglu is at the base of midfield, and he’s no one’s idea of a defender, and in front of him, the trident of Guler, Kokcu and Yildiz looks nasty. Turkey have, though, been in miserable recent form after qualifying well – their most recent games have been a 1-0 defeat to Hungary, a 6-1 defeat to Austria, a 0-0 draw with Italy and a 2-1 defeat to Poland. It won’t take much to get them going again, but they’ve not actually played since March so might need time to get going.
I bet Gareth Southgate regrets leaving Marcus Rashford out now. He’d feel right at home here.
I’m going to write these teams down, then hopefully we can move from grown men on to football.
“I know that, morally, it is a ludicrous carry-on,” says James Humphries, “but yer man swinging what appears to be a perfect air punch then giving the double bird is an unimpeachable two-act play.”
Tangentially, I always wondered if the lad in Mexico caught the other lad again on the backhand.
Email! “To compound the woes of ‘not enough daytime football,” says Justin Madson, “here in the US our excellent friends at the Fox network have determined that Turkey/Georgia doesn’t deserve air time, so we only get one match today. Instead, executives (our friends) at Fox have decided that *checks notes* entertainment daytime talk shows on one channel and sports talk shows on the other are more valuable. Priorities.”
People are strange.
Sid Lowe
Police moved into the Westfalenstadion after fighting broke out between Turkey and Georgia fans a little over an hour before their European Championship match in Dortmund. Supporters in the south stand supporting Georgia and in the east stands where some Turkish fans were in the bottom rows confronted each other, throwing missiles across the corner.
Mostly, it was only paper, although a small number of plastic bottles were also thrown. Stewards moved into the space between the two areas to prevent anyone crossing to the other side and prevent further skirmishes. Armed police wearing white helmets moved, creating a cordon along the edge of the east stand, occupying the space in the corner and vacating the bottom rows, Turkey supporters moving towards the middle. They did not appear to charge the supporters and there was no sign of any being removed or arrests made.
The confrontations came amidst a torrential downpour, with water cascading off the corners of the stadium roof and supporters soaked all around the stadium.
OK, let’s have some teams…
Turkey (4-2-3-1): Gunok; Muldur, Akaydin, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Ayhan, Calhanoglu; Guler, Kokcu, Yildiz; Yilmaz. Subs: Bayindir, Cakir, Celik, Demiral, Yokuslu, Akturkoglu, Tosun, Yazici, Kaplan, Ozcan, Yuksek, Kilicsoy, Akgun, Yildirim.
Georgia (5-3-2-): Mamardashvili; Kakabadze, Kverkvelia, Kashia, Dvali, Tsitaishvili; Kochorashvili, Mekvabishvili, Chakvetadze; Mikautadze, Kvaratskhelia. Subs: Gugeshashvili, Zivzivadze, Davitashvili, Kvilitaia, Gocholeishvili, Lochoshvili, Gveleisiani, Kvekveskiri, Altunashvili, Shengelia, Lobjanidze, Tabidze, Sigua.
Referee: Facundo Tello (Argentina)
Heavy Mexico 86 vibes about that last snap.
Goodness me, it appears there’s already been some grown men action in the stands. What is wrong with people?
Preamble
We’re all friends here, so we can all be honest with each other. It’s eminently possible that, just before 10pm last evening, every single one of us found ourselves saying to ourselves a version of: “Oh man, I wish there was another game on now. Why isn’t there another game on now? It’s a disgrace! I am poorly and need help.”
And not only that; it has since transpired that Uefa also expect us to get through the whole early-afternoon period without football as though it’s totally normal to have a poxy two-match day this early in a competition. Why do bad things happen to good people?
This tussle, though, is our reward, and it’s a goodun – Turkey are at the start of what could be a legendary, er … cycle. Yes, their defence needs work, but in attack they’ve some serious talent, Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz in particular, and I can’t wait to see what they make of this competition.
Georgia, meanwhile, finished fourth in their group, behind Spain, Scotland and Norway, then beat Luxembourg 2-0 and Greece on penalties to book their tournament spot. They’re ranked 75 in the world, so don’t expect loads from them, but any side featuring Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is worth watching – and also look out for the goalie, Giorgi Mamardashvili of Valencia, and Watford’s Giorgi Chakvetadze.
Kick-off: 4pm local, 5pm BST