PV desk # Spain set up a Euro 2024 quarter-final against hosts Germany but only after overcoming an early scare to beat Georgia 4-1.
The tournament debutants took a shock lead when Robin Le Normand turned the ball into his own net in the 18th minute but Rodri levelled six minutes before the break and Fabian Ruiz put Spain in front early in the second half, with Nico Williams and substitute Dani Olmo adding late goals.
Spain now take on Germany in the last eight in Stuttgart on Friday.
Georgia are ranked 74th in the world, 66 places below Spain. Willy Sagnol’s team lost twice to Spain in qualifying, going down 7-1 at home and 3-1 away.
Yet they still qualified for a first major tournament and then made it to the knockout stages with a stunning 2-0 win over Portugal.
Sagnol said on the eve of this match that his unfancied team had “already won the European Championship” thanks to their remarkable run, and they now go home with their heads held high despite eventually crumbling here.
They have a lively attacking partnership between Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze that is a danger for any opponent, and Giorgi Mamardashvili has been one of the best goalkeepers at the tournament.
Mamardashvili had already saved from Pedri and kept out Dani Carvajal’s glancing header before Georgia went ahead.
The move started with a fine piece of play by Kvaratskhelia, who had little room to manoeuvre on the left wing but picked out a pass for Mikautadze, who then released Otar Kakabadze on the right wing.
Kakabadze’s cross into the box was a horrible one for Le Normand, who had Kvaratskhelia arriving behind him and could not stop the ball rebounding off him and into the net for the eighth own goal of Euro 2024.
Spain were now vulnerable to the counterattack, which is Georgia’s strength, but the men in red continued to dominate the game and kept testing Mamardashvili.
The Valencia shot-stopper made several more interventions in an increasingly wild encounter before the equaliser finally came, Rodri controlling a Williams pass at the edge of the box and stroking the ball into the corner.
It felt as if that might be that for Georgia, but they remained audacious on the break, with Kvaratskhelia almost scoring from inside his own half at the beginning of the second period, his shot going just wide with goalkeeper Unai Simon out of position.
Spain went ahead shortly after, as Yamal crossed from the right for Ruiz to head in his second goal of the tournament at the back post.
Yamal didn’t just miss chances of his own, as he also forced an own goal which was disallowed for offside before Georgia fell apart defensively under increasingly heavy rain.
Ruiz released Williams, who ran from inside his own half, skipped past Giorgi Gvelesiani into the box and fired into the roof of the net to make it 3-1 on 75 minutes.
A delightful control and finish from the edge of the box by Olmo completed the scoring with seven minutes left.
