Georgian national team lost to Spain

Georgian national team lost the second match of the World Cup Qualifiers in Spain to the current world champion. After winning the debut match of the tournament with Ukraine, the Georgian team and its supporters hoped for success in Spain, even after the injury of the team captain and leader, Tornike Shengelia. In the match against Spain, our team did not lack dedication, but the opponent had an advantage in the class, which was reflected in the final score.

Nobody knows whether Georgia would have lost if Tornike Shengelia had played, however, the fact is that the Georgians could not keep the reins of the well-started match and hopelessly fell behind the opponent from the second period. The Greek leader of our team, Ilias Zouros, offered a surprise to the opponent when he put 21-year-old debutant of the team, Luka Maziashvili, in the starting five. The effect was that before the hosts sorted out the game, the Georgian team advanced several times. With the effectiveness of Giorgi Shermadini, Thad McFadden and Beka Burjanadze, Georgians were winning 8:5 first, and then 12:9 at some point. In the middle of the first period, Jaime Fernandez equalized the score with a three-pointer (12:12), since then the Spanish were no longer behind.