Portugal had looked like a force to be reckoned with at Euro 2024, but they slipped to a surprise 2-0 defeat to Georgia as Group F came to its conclusion.
It was a historic night for Georgia, who had never played in the tournament before, they played with spirit and conviction and have booked their place in the knockout stages.
The game sparked into life almost immediately when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring after less than two minutes as Georgia stormed out of the blocks.
The match continued in its chaotic, thrilling manner, with Portugal trying to build from the back and Georgia launching everything possible into their counter-attacks.
Portugal kept trying to get back into the game, but had chances saved and blocked, before Georges Mikautadze doubled Georgia’s advantage from the penalty spot, after Luka Lochoshvili won a penalty against Antonio Silva.
Here are The Independent’s player ratings
PORTUGAL
Diogo Costa - 6
Dived the right way for the penalty, but it had too much pace to save, and was not at fault for the first goal.
Goncalo Inacio - 6
The Portuguese defence did not have a lot to deal with throughout the match, aside from the pace of the Georgia attack and aside from the early goal, they were firm.
Danilo Pereira - 6
The Georgia attack was not a consistent problem, although the whole Portugal defence struggled to contain their threat on the counter attack.
Antonio Silva - 4
Played a horrible pass that allowed Georgia to score their first goal of the match inside the opening two minutes, and also made the foul on Luka Lochoschvili that led to the second goal. Silva was substituted in the 66th minute.
Pedro Neto - 5
Shown a yellow card for diving and trying to win a free kick just outside the Georgia box and his crosses lacked accuracy and at times were too long. Neto was taken off with 15 minutes left of normal time for Diogo Jota.
Joao Neves – 6
Took some threatening free-kicks, and went for a big overhead kick in the Georgia area and injured one of the defenders, but the youngster showed some promise.
Joao Palhinha – 6
Had a shot to try and level the score in the first half, managed to direct it goalwards but it was a straightforward save, and had another curled strike just wide of the target. The Fulham midfielder was then taken off at half time.
Diogo Dalot - 6
Had to give away a foul to prevent Georgia breaking into a promising position towards the end of the first half, but had a good curled strike that forced a brilliant save.
Joao Felix - 6
Had a probing ball into Ronaldo that was too easily cut out, was also pushed off the ball too easily at times by the Georgia midfielders.
Francisco Conceicao – 7
Had a chance for an equaliser just before the half hour mark, but his shot was off target. Made crucial runs and kept the energy up throughout the match.
Almost scored from a swerving, dipping 40-yard free kick and had another shot deflected over just after the half time break, but was substituted and his goalless run continues. He was also shown a yellow card in the 28th minute.
Substitutions:
Ruben Neves - 6, Nelson Semedo - 6, Goncalo Ramos - 6 , Diogo Jota - 6, Matheus Nunes - 6
