Georgia head coach Willy Sagnol is looking forward to an "awesome" encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in Group F of Euro 2024 this summer.
The Crusaders are preparing for their first-ever major tournament after beating Euro 2004 winners Greece on penalties in the qualification playoffs to secure their spot in Germany.
Sagnol has spent just over three years in charge of Georgia, winning 16 of his 33 games at the helm, and his side are regarded as one of the rank outsiders heading into the 17th instalment of the European Championships.
Few are predicting Georgia, ranked 75th in the world by FIFA, to escape Group F that also included Euro 2016 winners Portugal as well as Turkey and Czech Republic.
Nevertheless, Sagnol - who earned 58 international caps for France, played at two European Championships and reached the 2006 World Cup final as a player - is hoping that his Georgia side can relish their underdog status in Group F.
© Reuters
Sagnol's son "the biggest Cristiano Ronaldo fan on earth"
Sagnol is particularly looking forward to Georgia's third and final group-stage fixture against Portugal as one of his sons is a huge fan of five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo.
Still going strong at the age of 39, Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer at the European Championships with 14 goals and heads into this summer's tournament - his sixth on the continent - in impressive form after netting 44 times in 45 games for Al-Nassr last season.
"One of my sons is, I believe, the biggest Cristiano Ronaldo fan on earth," Sagnol told UEFA.com. "So I know that coming up against Portugal makes my son happy and that's awesome as a dad. It's going to be a very tough group, though, as Portugal are a European powerhouse."
Assessing Georgia's other opponents in Group F, Sagnol added: "Turkey have been putting in outstanding work in the last few years, with new players coming in who are young and very talented. As for Czechia, they've had great players throughout history and have taken part in many tournaments.
"And finally, us, Georgia. Somewhat the wildcard, slipping into this tournament rather unnoticed. What's certain is that whether we're playing Portugal, Czechia or Turkey, we will never give up and give everything we have."
© Reuters
Sagnol eyeing "top-level" improvements with Georgia
Sagnol believes that at lot has changed with the Georgian national team since his appointment in 2021, adding: "When I took charge it was a difficult period as we were in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, not to mention the fact that Georgia had just been knocked out by North Macedonia in the [Euro 2020 qualifying] playoffs back in November 2020.
"We needed to start building up again, and heal our minds and hearts too because it was a major disappointment. It was as if a dream had ended. It took time.
"We developed the players' and everyone's perspective on football. We needed to change things round a little bit, to make everything a bit more in line with the top-level requirements. The players have been fantastic in this regard.
"They've been working for two or three years now, changing many things. Some of them have even changed everything in their way of approaching football. This is a reward for those lads too, as they've believed [in this goal] for a while now."
Georgia claimed a positive result in their one and only warm-up fixture ahead of their opening Euro 2024 clash against Turkey on June 18, as they beat Montenegro by a 3-1 scoreline on Sunday.
Oliver Thomas
