Football: Georgia takes on world champions Germany

Georgia put up a mighty fight when the nation’s football team took on world number one Germany last night in Tbilisi, which ended in a 2-0 victory for the opposition.

The game was held at Dinamo Arena in front of a crowd of energetic locals and Germans, who had travelled to Georgia to watch the match.

Despite Georgia’s 2-nil defeat, the team played a strong match and the local crowd applauded their efforts.

The game was a Euro 2016 qualifier match. The two German goals were scored in the last seven minutes of the first half by Marco Reus and Thomas Muller.

Germany's Marco Reus, right, celebrates his goal against Georgia. Photograph: David Mdzinarishvili/REUTERS

Georgia’s performance was consistent but the side got off to an unlucky start: their centre-back Alexander Amisulashvili was forced off the field after suffering an injury shortly after the game began.

For the majority of the first half of the match there was no score then Reus put the ball in the net in the 39th minute after missing an earlier shot that hit the crossbar, and Muller then scored in the 44th minute.

As the teams went into their changing rooms for half time, several fans made it onto the pitch to hug players from both sides. A young Georgian fan kneeled in front of Georgian captain Jaba Kankava and respectfully touched his boots – a gesture another Georgian fan did to German captain Bastian Schweinsteiger during their pre-match exercise.

A Georgian fan touches the boots of Jaba Kankava, Georgia's captain during Georgia-Germany match at Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi.

A Georgian fan touches the boots of German captain Bastian Schweinsteiger during his pre-match exercise.

Georgia’s new coach Kakhaber Tskhadadze, who was on his coaching debut for the national side, made a substitution at half time and Giorgi Chanturia was brought on as a forward. This move didn’t change the final score but this offensive approach was appreciated and a far cry from the side’s typical reaction of strengthening its defence when challenging a world class team.

"We're trying to improve ourselves for the future. I'm not unsatisfied with our second-half efforts," said Tskhadadze, who played club football for Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1990s.

"We shouldn't forget that we were playing against a top team."

For the remainder of the game the German side had several opportunities to capitalise further however the Georgian side defended well and denied the world number one team any further points.

Georgian captain Kankava (L) and German captain Schweinsteiger during the game. Photo by K. Sisauri

The Germans had only one thing on their minds the entire match – to win the game and gain three points. Despite their slow start, they were a motivated team and took action to keep the game flowing, including a throw-in from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer; something that rarely happens in football.

During the 90 minute match the visitors had plenty of opportunities to stretch their lead but wide shots on goal and several attempts hitting the crossbar amused the Georgian fans and inspired the joke: "the best player from the Georgian side is the crossbar so far”. However the Georgian goalkeeper made some outstanding saves during the match.

After the match the German coach said his team was looking for "a convincing performance” following its loss to Poland, a home draw with Ireland, and uninspired wins over Scotland and Gibraltar in earlier qualifying matches.

"Looking at the table we had to win the game, it's clear. I'm satisfied with the first half. We didn't push it in the second," said German coach Joachim Loew.

German midfielder Toni Kroos said: "We had the game under control but there were times we made it difficult for ourselves. It was a bit too hectic. In my opinion we made things too complicated."

At the end of the 90 minute match plus extra time, the stadium screen showed the final 2-0 score in favour of Germany, to which the noisy Georgian crowed stood up and applauded their players.

Last night’s match was a good test for the Tbilisi Dinamo Arena, as the stadium will host the 2015 UEFA Super Cup in August.

Current FIFA world rankings place Germany number one in the world, while Georgia ranks 126th. This was the third time Georgia hosted world champions (before Germany, it was Italy and then Spain). Despite the Georgian side having lost all three of these games, they did perform well and play world class football.