Khvicha Kvaratskhelia could not contain his excitement after putting a man-of-the-match performance to fire Georgia into the last 16 of Euro 2024 in their historic 2-0 win against Portugal.
The 23-year-old also received the jersey of his childhood hero Cristiano Ronaldo, who inspired him with a pre-match pep talk.
Kvaratskhelia netted Georgia’s opener inside 120 seconds and continued his dazzling performance with dribbles before being substituted with 15 minutes left – to send shockwaves to the Euro 2016 champions.
The attacker, whom the Georgian nation depends on, had voiced his dreams of playing against Ronaldo and acquiring his idol’s shirt.
Before Georgia’s important game, a photo from 2013 of Ronaldo visiting a football academy in Tbilisi made rounds as the superstar was seen surrounded by young footballers with Kvaratskhelia among them.
And with his display on Wednesday, Kvara showed his ability to be on level quality terms with his idol.
He said to reporters: “I have a jersey of Ronaldo. I got it. And we also made it through the next round.
“This is the best day in the lives of Georgians.
“Everybody is so happy, we just made history. Nobody would believe that we would make it happen and we would defeat Portugal. But I think this is why we’re a strong team.”
Kvaratskhelia also revealed Ronaldo had also provided encouraging words before the game.
“When he comes to you before the match and when he says that I wish you success, that is amazing,” Kvaratskhelia added.
“I realised that actually I could do and we could do so many things today because it gave us so much incentive.”
Kvaratskhelia – dubbed the name, “Kvaradona”, by supporters of his club Napoli, whom he won the Scudetto with in 2023 – put Georgia’s win above even that success.
“This is the best day in my life because it was more difficult to do it with the Georgian team than with the Napoli team,” he said.
Georgia’s next big hurdle is a last 16 clash with another of the European continent’s heavyweights, Spain, on Sunday.
