In the silence of Wednesday's dawn, Georgia and Greece fought a 120-minute tug-of-war that remained deadlocked at 0-0 at the final whistle. But in a brutal penalty shootout, Georgia rallied to win 12-2 and make it to the final week for the first time, joining Poland and Ukraine on the final train, with 24 teams emerging from this year's tournament.
Georgia, this 69,700 square kilometers of Eastern Europe is home to about 4 million people. Since gaining independence from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, it has gradually made its mark on the international soccer scene, and used to be regarded as a team of fish out of water. In recent years, however, Georgia has seen an influx of soccer talent, with Bori wing Kivaraskylia standing out in particular. He has scored double-digit goals in Serie A over the past two seasons, and has contributed four goals in Georgia's last four European matches, key to the team's advancement.
According to the draw, Georgia was placed in Group F of European countries. Facing the super power of Portugal, Turkey and Czech Republic are also not to be underestimated. In such a grouping, it seems that Georgia is not out of reach to reach the knockout stage.
In the other play-off final, Wales and Poland battled to a 0-0 draw and the two sides had to settle for a penalty shoot-out. Poland narrowly won 5-4, with 35-year-old Lola Lewandowski expected to make his final international appearance. Meanwhile, Ukraine beat Iceland 2-1 to make it four consecutive EHF Cup final weeks.
