| Rep Ireland 2-0 Georgia |
| Referee: ITURRALDE GONZALEZ Eduardo (ESP) Booked: Khizaneishvili Attendance: 38,000 Pictures: |
| 11th June |
| Georgia |
| Rep Ireland |
| 1 Given 2 Carr 3 O'Shea 4 Breen 5 Cunningham 6 Holland 7 Carsley 8 Healy 86 9 Doherty 88 10 Keane 11 Kilbane Subs: 12 Harte 13 Kinsella 86 14 Reid 15 McPhail 16 Colgan 17 Connolly 18 Lee 88 |
| 1 Lomaia 2 Khizanishvili 3 Khizaneishvili 4 Kaladze 5 Amisulashvili 6 Didava 76 7 Rekhviashvili 8 Burduli 9 Asatiani 10 Demetradze 59 11 S. Arveladze Subs: 12 Gvaramadze 13 Daraselia 59 14 Siradze 16 Shashiashvili 17 Aleksidze 76 18 Akhalaia |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
| Doherty, 43 Keane, 59 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
| The Georgian National Team lost 2-0 to the Rep Irelland in what was a disapointing performance. There was bad news right from when the squad was announced with the fact that key midfielders Georgi Nemsadze and Levan Kobiashvili would miss the game through injury. Things got worse when Levan Tskitishvili and David Kvirkvelia also pulled out through injury. On the morning of the game Alexander Iashvili fell ill and Georgi Kinkladze decided he didnt want to play. The injury crisis was so bad that Lado Akhalaia who played the full 90 minuites in the U21 game the previous night was named on the bench. Georgia's only hope was the fact that Ireland's brilliant winger Damien Duff had not recovered from his injury and would miss the game. Susak was forced to play both Rekhviashvili and Didava in centre midfield due to the lack of anyone else available. It was surprising Susak selected three central defenders considering Ireland's threat from the wings. Amisulashvili was selected at left midfield and the hero from Georgia's last game Malkhaz Asatiani continued in midfield. Allmost from the first whistle Ireland put the Georgian defence under increasing pressure. Kilbane was finding acres of space on the right side of the Georgian defence. Burduli was struggling to cope with Kilbane's pace and despite the fact Didava tried to help him he was left exposed by his lack of pace. The Georgian defenders looked slow and were becoming frustrated with Burduli and Khizaneishvili both giving away cheap free kicks. Irelands first real chance fell to defender John O'Shea who headed wide of Lomaia's goal. Georgia gradually began to come back into the game but it took them until the 32nd minuite before their first shot. Amisulashvili cut in from the right passed the ball the Rekhviashvili 35 yards out but he hit the ball high and wide. However Georgia were restricted down the wings with Amisualshvili and Burduli making little attempts to attack. Georgia's next chance came when Kaladze picked the ball up at the back and brought it past the halfway line for Asatiani to shoot but his left foot shot was just over the bar. Ireland scored their first goal after 43 minuites when Khizaneishvili gave away a freekick and Gary Doherty beat Kakha Kaladze to the ball and headed into the corner of the net despite Lomaia's feeble attempt to save. Georgia reacted well to the goal and they won a corner almost immediatly. Demetradze swung the corner in and Givi Didava knocked the ball down to Arveladze but his effort was cleard off the line by Carr. Georgia started the second half better and began to put the Irish defence under more pressure. Amisulashvili had an early chance which he headed over the bar but Ireland always seemed to have the upper hand. Lomaia had to be alert to stop Holland's shot from the edge of the box before Georgia moved up the other end and Asatiani created another chance for himself when he beat four Irish defenders and shot just wide. However Ireland killed the game after 59 minuites. Carsley's overhead kick is not cleared by Khizaneishvili and Robbie Keane slots the ball past Lomaia into the corner of the net. Susak reacted to this by taking off the ineffective Demetradze and replacing him with Vitali Daraselia. Daraselia showed more determination and endevour but by this time it was too late. Ireland was in control and Georgia were reduced to a few long range strikes from Daraselia, Arveladze and Asatiani. The final whistle went and Ireland are right back into the running for EURO 2004. The loss effectively ends Georgia's chances of reaching EURO 2004 Georgia coach Ivo Susak was first to congratulate Kerr and his team at the post match press conference. "Ireland played much better than against Albania on Saturday. I had not expected them to raise their game so much after just three days," said the Croatian-born Susak. "Georgia put on show all their abilities especially fighting spirit. But two mistakes cost us the result. The Irish pushed us to make those mistakes. "But you must remember we were without five or six players for various reasons who would have been in action today." Susak believes that the final outcome of the Group Ten table will be highly interesting. "Russia are an extremely good team. They will not give up easily and want to stay in third position. But I do believe now that these last two results for Ireland put them in a serious position. "A goal each for Doherty and Keane were vital. They were a permanent threat to us," added Susak |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Keane tries to get away from Didava |
| Rekhviashvili tackles Keane |
| Holland goes away from Asatiani |
| Doherty scores the first Irish goal |
| Teams: |
| Player Ratings: Lomaia 6, Khizanishvili 6, Khizaneishvili 4, Kaladze 7, Amisulashvili 6, Didava 5, Rekhviashvili 6 Burduli 5, *Asatiani 8*, Demetradze 4, S. Arveladze 5 |
 |
|