Georgia fly the flag for liberty against all odds
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Your support makes all the difference.When Georgia run out at the aptly named Liberty Stadium to play Wales tonight it can only be hoped that the Swansea crowd understand the lengths the opponents have undertaken simply to get to their city. A meaningless friendly to most of the football world perhaps; yet rarely will a match have so much meaning to a visiting team.
Petar Segrt, the Georgian federation's technical director and former manager, best summed up the tremendous effort to fulfil a fixture following the recent Russian invasion. "The Russians did not believe we could get 18 players out of the country, but we have done it," said Segrt, who was forced to make all the arrangements because the the new Georgia manager, Hector Cuper, was unable to enter the country.
"We had to spend 20 hours on a bus, very dangerous, going to Baku [the capital of Azerbaijan] for our visas. The result is not important. It is a simple way to show the Russians that they can bomb us and send in tanks, but you will never stop the Georgian people."
Zurab Khizanishvili was one of the fortunate travellers as he plies his trade with Blackburn. Yesterday the full-back spoke of the turmoil in his home nation. "Some of my friends, young boys who are in the army, are still in hospital after being wounded," he said. "A couple of days beforehand I was talking to a friend who was off to compete in the Olympics, and then suddenly there is a war."
Chances of a morale-boosting triumph will be high against an understrength Wales. John Toshack's side are missing Craig Bellamy along with Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey, Tottenham's Gareth Bale and Chris Gunther, and Manchester City's Ched Evans.
Brian Flynn's Under-21 side also play tonight, in Wrexham. A win against Romania would secure victory in their group and put them on the brink of becoming the first Welsh side, of any description, to qualify for a major finals in 58 years.
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