Georgia earn first major tournament point in draw with Czechs

HAMBURG: European Championship newcomers Georgia held the Czech Republic to a 1-1 draw on Saturday (Jun 22), taking a shock lead through a Georges Mikautadze penalty before an equaliser off the chest of Patrik Schick.

Though Georgia will be proud of a first point at a major tournament against a team ranked 40 places higher, it could have been even better, substitute Saba Lobjanidze squandering a glorious chance to win the game at the death.

Both teams have one point from two games and need to win their final Group F match to progress to the knockout stages in Germany.

In an intense game at Hamburg's Voklsparkstadion, Mikautadze sent Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek the wrong way with his spot-kick in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time after a handball by Robin Hranac.

The 23-year-old Mikautadze's second goal of the tournament sent Georgia's white-clad fans into ecstasy.

That came against the run of play after the Czechs had dominated, with Schick having two efforts well saved, Vaclav Cerny scuffing the ball when it looked easier to score, and Adam Hlozek having a goal disallowed for handball.

Schick got the equaliser the Czechs deserved, however, in the 59th minute, steering the ball in with his chest after Ondrej Lingr's glancing header from a corner bounced off the post.

In a concern for the Czechs' next game against Turkey, Schick - joint top scorer with five goals at the last Euros - limped off soon after his goal.

"Of course, 1-1 is not enough for us. We were better, we had more chances. Their goalie caught everything in the first half, then the penalty came," said Schick, whose goal took him past Milan Baros as top Czech scorer at European Championships with six.

"In the end we were able to equalise. We were