Tomorrow evening we will find out if Georgian U-17 will go through final stage of European Championship. All four teams of the second group have the same chance. But the situation is complicated – none of the teams depend on itself.

March 30

18:00. Vienna, "Hirschstetten". Ireland - Serbia

18:00. Vienna, "FAC Arena". Austria - Georgia

Will Georgia win? If Serbia wins too, the Georgians will not make through and the Serbians will.

Will Serbia win? If Austria wins too, the Serbians will not make through and the Austrians will.  

Will Ireland win? If Georgia wins too, the Irish will not go through and the Georgians will.

Will Austria win? If Ireland wins too, the Austrians will not go through and the Irish will.

In case of the equal points, the head is given priority.

If both matches finish draw? Either Georgia or Serbia will make through. Georgia is in better situation in this case.

If Georgia plays 0:0, then 1:1, 2:2 (and so on) will be enough for Serbia. Why? If Georgia and Serbia have the same balance of the points and the goals, the Serbians will make through.

Anyway, we must support Ireland against Serbia.

Ukrainians will judge Austria-Georgia. The main referee will be Yaroslav Kozyk. The Serbians were considered as the favorite of the group. In the previous round Austria beat them.

Forwards Pellegrini and Adrian Grbic are distinguished in the team of Hermann Stadler. Sascha Horvath is considered as a leader of the midfield.

Austria and Georgia do not have disqualified football players. Serbia and Ireland will play with weaker team: Ireland will lack goalkeeper Burke and forward Mitchell. The Serbians will lack defender Radojevic.

Luka Zarandia (“Lokomotive”, Tbilisi) has scored 4 goals in Euro qualifying. Many have scored 4 goals. There are players who scored 5 goals. German Timo Werner scored 13 goals in 5 matches!

Of course, we hope Ireland will help us but the team of Devdariani must not think about it – Austria must be defeated.

Results of the first and the second rounds:

I round

Ireland - Austria 1:0

Georgia - Serbia 0:2

II round

Georgia - Ireland 3:0

Austria – Serbia 1:0

1. Georgia  2 1 0 1 3:2 3

2. Serbia2 1 0 1 2:1 3

3. Austria 2 1 0 1 1:1 3

4. Ireland 2 1 0 1 1:3 3 

5 teams of the final stage are known: Italy, Croatia, Switzerland, Russia and host Slovakia. All matches are not finished in 3 groups. The final stage will be held on May 5-17.

This autumn World U-17 Championship will take place in the United Arab Emirates. 24 teams will play there and 6 teams will be from Europe. These 6 teams will make through from the final stage of European Championship. 6 from 8 teams will play at World Championship. Only last placed teams will not go to the UAE.

Photo by Lasha Kuprashvili

Ilia Nanobashvili