Zestaponi fans reach fever pitch.

Gyori ETO - Zestafoni 1-1 www.eto.hu

The Georgian Football Cup winner Zestaponi from the town of Zestaponi has made a good start at the UEFA Cup. The club, that was established just four years ago, drew with 100 year-old Hungarian club Gyor Etos away and improved its chances of going past the first qualification round.

Football is currently not at its best in Georgia; the biggest problem is that it seems to lack the fighting spirit. Going through even two stages of European tournaments is considered an unbelievable achievement. Often it is not the score but the heartless play that frustrates the fans and makes them boo their own footballers.

I have followed the matches of Zestaponi since the day of its creation and I have not witnessed such a situation even once. The major strength of the club that is made of 18-19 year old footballers is the fighting spirit and passion they play every game with. That is why even after the lost games the spectators thank them for putting up such a brave fight. It was with Zestaponi that my hopes lay before setting out for Hungary.

We flew from Tbilisi to Vienna and continued our way to the small Hungarian town on a bus. In about half an hour we were in the small and pretty town of Gyor. After getting some rest, we went to the beautiful stadium of Gyor Etos. About 50 Hungarian fans attended Zestaponi’s training session, including the footballers of Gyor. Both the fans and the players said that they would defeat the Georgian club. But the Georgians had other plans…

The next day we arrived at the arena of Gyor Etos an hour and half before kick-off and the first thing that struck our eyes was the Georgian flags carefully spread on the north stands. Eight Zestaponians living 400 km away in the town of Szeged hired a minibus and came to Gyor to support their home team. Four other Georgians who had flown in especially for the match joined them. These 12 Georgians did not stop for a second during the whole 90 minutes the game was played.

Zestaponi started with their usual fighting spirit and soon had the advantage. Near the end of the first half, the hosts fouled Zestaponi’s player Brazilian Vieira near their penalty area. Vieira launched the free kick from a distance of 30 m directly towards the goal of Hungarians. The ball brushed the head of a Hungarian defender but it was not enough and the ball soared into the net. The celebrations of the 12 Georgians irritated the local fans so much that police made a protective circle around them, warning them not to walk anywhere during the break without them.

The scenario did not change in the second half either. Zestaponi dominated but Gyor Etos carried out several dangerous counter-attacks and one of them ended with a goal in the 58th minute. The equalizer animated the hosts but only for about 5 minutes. In the remaining time there were a couple of dangerous moments at both ends but no more goals were scored.

After the match, the head coach of the Hungarian team, Sandor Egervar, told us that he was disappointed with his teams play. Completely different was the mood of the head coach of Georgians, Temur Makharadze. He told journalists it was too early to celebrate yet. According to him, both teams have equal chances and everything will be clear after the second game in two weeks.

The return match will be held in Zestaponi on July 31. Tickets are not on sale yet but it is already known that the renovated stands at Zestaponi Stadium will have no empty seats.

We returned to Georgia on a charter flight from Budapest. The head coach gave the footballers three days of rest. The team started training for the match on July 21.