The Georgian national team lost a friendly match to the United Arab Emirates in Switzerland – 0:1. You can see the positive even when you lose but not the team which is not in Top 5 teams of the Asian Confederation and made through to World Cup only once, 24 years ago.
Now everybody will blame Lado Dvalishvili but the problem is bigger than one missed moment. The fact is that the Georgian national team has no progress but who knows, perhaps, somebody is satisfied with the victory over Liechtenstein (2:0) and Saudi Arabia (2:0).
Omar Abdulrahman Al Amoodi of the UAE was the best player of today’s match. He is 22 years old and is one of the most talented players in Asia.
Temur Ketsbaia held the first half without a nominal forward and it did not work. Nothing happened before the break.
The Arabs had more chance than us.
The second half started with the goal of Dvalishvili but it did not count due to dubious offside.
The forward of “Legia” had the second chance at the 57th minute. Gia Grigalava kicked the ball. Tornike Okriashvili assisted Dvalishvili who was standing 3 meters from the net. He kicked the ball but the goalkeeper parried it.
Kobakhidze was very active during the whole match. However, at the 74th minute the goal was scored in the net of the Georgians – 0:1.
By the way, it was the first kick of the Arabs toward the net and they scored goal.
What did the Georgians do? The assist of Kobakhidze is the only worth mentioning. Long-distance kicks of Giorgi Papava were not good. The Arabs controlled the ball the last 10 minutes.
There is no hope that the Georgian national team will improve playing before the start of the qualifying round.
Georgia – UAE 0:1 (0:0)
Georgia: Loria, Lobzhanidze, Saba Kvirkvelia, Khubutia (Kakubava 46), Grigalava, Kashia, Kankava (Tskhadadze 87), Dzaria (Papava 61), Kazaishvili (Dvalishvili 46), Kobakhidze, Okriashvili (Papunashvili 69).
Goal: 0:1 Fardan (74)
Referee: Studer (Switzerland)
Ilia Nanobashvili
