Tomorrow, the Georgia national team will host Northern Ireland at the Dynamo Arena in Tbilisi for the first round of the UEFA Nations League. At the pre-match press conference, Northern Ireland head coach Michael O’Neill addressed the media.
“All the players have arrived and are ready. Despite the long journey, there were no delays. We have been preparing according to British time. Playing in a full stadium is preferable, but the absence of fans tends to disadvantage the home team more. We had a similar experience against Belarus, and it didn’t cause us significant problems.
The Georgian national team boasts many high-quality players. Kvicha Kvaratskhelia is a very talented player capable of deciding the outcome of a match at any moment. I hope that won’t pose too much of a challenge for our players, as we have experience playing against competitors from the French league.
We have analyzed several weaknesses in the Georgian squad and plan to exploit them, but the key is to capitalize on our own strengths. This is a balanced group where every team has a chance to succeed. Over the next four matches, we won’t be able to make extensive squad rotations. Our minimum goal is to avoid defeat, but naturally, we have come here to win.
It’s a pity that we don’t currently have a player like George Best in our team. For a small country like ours, a player of that caliber means a great deal. Just as Georgia now has Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, and previously had Georgi Kinkladze,” said O’Neill.
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