Georgia’s Euros run gave the nation some respite

If you had told me a month ago that Georgia would make it into the play-offs, defeating Portugal on the way, I’d have called you mad – which, much like in English, isn’t a word in Georgian that necessarily carries a negative connotation. Over these last two weeks, especially after the historic 2-0 win against Portugal, we Georgians all went a little bit mad. With Georgia being the cradle of wine (we invented it), it’s perhaps unsurprising that copious amounts were consumed.

Come Sunday, however, after the utter demolition inflicted by a ruthless and vastly superior Spanish team, the mood was somewhat subdued. Georgians are like that. We believe we can always win, even when all the evidence points to the contrary. We get upset when things don’t happen exactly the way we envisioned in our feverish dreams. But still our boys wrote history.

Our team did better than anyone expected.