Georgian football team defeats Latvia, boosts its chances for European Championship

Georgia’s national football team defeated Latvia yesterday with a score 1:0 in a UEFA Nations League match and boosted its chances to play in the European Championship in the summer of 2020.

Georgia gained its victory on the 77th minute by the penalty kick of Tornike Okriashvili.
On September 6 Georgia also managed to defeat Kazakhstan with the score 2:0.

Tbilisi Dinamo Arena, which rooms almost 54,000 fans, was nearly full.  

What chances are for Georgia for European Championship?

The UEFA National League is being held for the first time, which gives a unique chance for Georgia and other weaker teams in Europe to play in the European Championship.

55 European countries participate in the league which consists of two tours: first stage matches will be held in September-November of 2018 and in June 2019 final games will take place.

Teams are assembled in four (A, B, C, D) leagues based on their strength. For instance, the most powerful European teams: France, Spain, England, Belgium are in the A league, while Georgia, Azerbaijan, San Marino, Moldova and others in the D league.

Each of the league will have one winner, which will automatically appear at the 2020 European Championship.

Banners supporting Guram Kashia. Photo: Netgazeti.ge. 

Each league has its groups-A, B and C leagues have three groups, while there are four groups in the D league.

Georgia is in the first group of the D league with Kazakhstan, Latvia and Andorra.
Georgia has already defeated Latvia and Kazakhstan and the upcoming match will be held with Andorra on October 16.

In October and November Georgia will again play against the teams of the three countries.
If Georgia manages to win the group competitions, then it will have to defeat the winning teams of other groups in the D league to appear in the European championship.

Kashia and yesterday's game 

Yesterday’s match with Latvia was  also distinguished because of the vice-Captain of the Georgian national football team Guram Kashia, as many people appeared at the stadium to show support to him.

In August this year Kashia became the first-ever recipient of the UEFA #EqualGame Award, honouring the player’s support of the LGBT community on the field.

Kashia, 31, was singled out for the award for his show of support to the LGBT community during his time with the Dutch club side SBV Vitesse last season.

Leading the side in matches, the Georgian wore his captain’s armband with the rainbow-coloured colours to show his support of diversity and inclusion.