Georgia “ready for the challenge” of facing Norway in Euro 2024 qualifier - team captain Kashia

Georgian national football team captain Guram Kashia on Tuesday said the squad was “ready for the challenge” of facing Norway in their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying stage at the Adjarabet Arena stadium in Batumi.

Set to play their first official fixture of the year in the Black Sea city later today, the team will face their Norwegian counterparts in Group A of the qualifying stage of the tournament, with the visiting team set to miss their star forward Erling Haaland through injury.

Kashia said the absence of Haaland was a “big misfortune” for Norway, a development he said would probably force the visiting team to adjust their game plan.

Photo via nakrebi.ge

Georgia head coach Willy Sagnol told the pre-match press briefing his squad was aware of the quality of the opposition, adding he was expecting a “difficult match” against Ståle Solbakken’s squad - a team he said was stronger than Georgia’s previous opponents North Macedonia and Bulgaria in the Nations League.

Willy Sagnol, head coach of Georgian national football team, Photo via nakrebi.ge

In his comments previewing the fixture, Solbakken said the team’s loss against Spain in the opening matchday of the qualifying stage had meant he attached “special importance” to scoring points against Georgia.

“The Georgian national team has Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who alone can decide the fate of a game. It is not an easy task before us, but we came here to get points”, he told the press.

Photo via nakrebi.ge

Spain and Scotland head Group A with three points each, while Norway and Cyprus are currently bottom with no points. Georgia will play their first game of the group in Batumi.