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Portugal's boss Roberto Martinez commends the brilliance of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as one of Europe's best dribblers after their shock defeat to Georgia at the EURO 2024.
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez heaped praise on Georgia's superstar and Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia after his side suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of the EURO 2024 debutants.
The former European champions were left stunned as the 23-year-old opened the scoring inside two minutes to set Georgia on their way to a historic victory on the final day of the group stages.
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Martinez gushes over Kvaratskhelia
And Martinez was left in awe of Kvaratskhelia's display, labelling the Napoli star as one of the top five dribblers in Europe.
“If you analyse them, you'd talk about their goalkeeper, who's had three years at the highest level and had a wonderful game, and Kvaratskhelia, who's one of the top five dribblers in Europe,” the Portugal boss told EURO2024.com after the match.
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Kvaratskhelia - who has taken Serie A by storm since joining Napoli two summers ago as an unknown quantity - completed 100% of his three attempted dribbles in the game, terrorising the Portugal defence for 81 minutes.
The Georgians sealed a famous victory when Georges Mlkautadze converted a second-half penalty to book their spot in the quarter-finals of a major tournament for the first time.
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On the defeat, the former Everton and Wigan manager revealed that the minnows surprised him with their belief and intensity.
“The only surprise was that they managed to retain the intensity and belief for the 90 minutes because it was only in the last ten minutes, we had any clear-cut chances. Their coach has done a wonderful job,” he added.
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Portugal's legendary captain Cristiano Ronaldo was left devastated by the defeat, with the 39-year-old failing to score in the group stage of a major competition for the first time in his career after he was caged by the EURO debutants
But the Spaniard was left in awe of Kvaratskhelia's display, hailing the Napoli star as one of the most exciting young talents in world football.
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Martinez will now have to pick his side up as they look to bounce back in the knockout stages, with the pressure firmly on the 2016 champions after their shock group stage exit.
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