Kickoff chronicles

Turkey vs Georgia

The stage was set in Dortmund for Euro rookies Georgia to take on potential dark horses in Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey side. After coming so close to scoring inside 10 minutes, Turkey eventually took the lead in the 25th minute through full back Murt Muldur. It came from a cross down the left wing which was headed away by a Georgian defender only as far as the edge of the 18 yard box. Mulder decided to volley the ball first time which he executed to perfection, watching his blistering strike ripple the back of the Georgian net. Turkey thought they had doubled their lead inside 2 minutes when Arda Guler’s ball across the 6 yard box caught a flick on from Orkan Kokcu. Kokcu’s connection wasn’t strong enough to find the back of the net but it fell into the path of Kenan Yildiz who smashed the ball into the roof of the net. Unfortunately for Turkey, Yildiz was offside and the score stayed 1-0. Gerogia then gave their end something to cheer about when they scored their first ever goal at a major tournament. Giorgi Kochorashvili’s tricky feet were too much for the Turkey defence as he was able to pick out Georges Mikautadze. Mikautadze somehow managed to beat keeper Mert Gunok at his near post and squeeze it in with his first time effort. The half finished 1-1 with this Group F game fully in the balance. 

It was always going to take a moment of brilliance to separate these two sides and the young Real Madrid and Turkey star, Adra Guler, was the man to produce it. The 19 year old received the ball from about 25 yards out via an interception thanks to Kaan Ayhan. Guler took a touch to set himself up and perfectly curled the ball into the top left corner, probably the goal of the tournament so far. Georgia were so unlucky in the next half an hour, hitting the crossbar and post multiple times and being denied an equaliser by a series of brilliant Turkey blocks and tackles. In the last kick of the game, they won a corner and pushed everyone up for it, a now or never situation. It popped out to a Georgian player who was dispossessed by substitute Kerem Akturoglu. He had no one in front of him and he sprinted towards goal, taking the ball from almost his own penalty area to the Georgian 18 yard box before calmly slotting the ball away to win the game for Turkey. It all finished 3-1 with Turkey picking up a well fought and deserved win. It is heartbreak for Georgia and their fans. They were so unfortunate not to get anything from the game but they should be proud of the fighting spirits they showed. Both teams will be back in action on Saturday.

Portugal vs Czech Republic

The final game to end out round one in the group stage of the 2024 Euros saw Portugal take on The Czech Republic at the Leipzig Stadium. Portugal dominated the first half, enjoying more than 75% of possession. Cristiano Ronaldo, at the ripe age of 39, was their vocal point of attack, creating multiple chances and almost scoring himself on a few occasions. The half finished 0-0 but it was surely only a matter of time before Roberto Martinez’s side took the lead. 

After defending brilliantly to keep out Portugal in the first half and the early stages of the second, The Czech Republic turned to hit Portugal on the break. West Ham full back Vladmir Coufal received the ball in the right side of the Portuguese penalty area before he cut it back to teammate Lukas Provod. Provod ran onto the ball and beautifully curled it past Diogo Costa between the sticks to give Czech Republic the lead and also score the 11th goal outside the box so far this Euros, on track to break the previous record. This proved to be a wake up call for Portugal as they went on to equalise in the 69th minute, just 7 minutes later. Vitinha crossed the ball into the back post of the penalty area where full back Nuno Mendes headed it across goal. Czech keeper Jindrich Stanek came out to parry the ball away but it ended up hitting his centre back, Robin Hranac’s knee and ricocheting into his own net. Portugal then thought they had claimed all 3 points in the 85th minute when super sub Diogo Jota scored. It came from a Joao Cancelo cross into the back post which found Ronaldo. The Portuguese captain’s header rattled the post before Jota headed in the rebound. It was soon chalked off though as Ronaldo was offside by a shoulder. Roberto Martinez’s side finally found a deserved winner in the 2nd minute of added time. Two substitutes Pedro Neto and Chico Conceicao combined to score the vital goal. Neto’s pass into the box was intercepted by Czech defender Hranac but wasn’t cleared properly and Conceicao was there to smash the scraps past keeper Stanek. That was the last action of the game as Portugal held on to win 2-1 in a nervy first Euro 2024 game. The Czech Republic will be disappointed they couldn’t reserve their lead but will feel they have played their hardest group stage game and will hope to pick up points against Georgia in their next fixture.

Written By Ollie Wade