National Team Friendly

National stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Merdan Abesadze made the kick off which started today's match. Taka Levidze took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Sergey Demchenko, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Stepan Firago showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Goderdzi Pawletko in the 5th minute of the match. 1-0 became the score in the 9th minute when Goderdzi Pawletko elegantly shot the ball into goal just under the crossbar. When Goderdzi Pawletko came up free with the goalie in the 12th minute, the Georgia fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Goderdzi Pawletko couldn't finish the play. The audience was convinced that Goderdzi Pawletko's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Stepan Firago was relentless in the 15th minute of the game. Goderdzi Pawletko's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Stepan Firago read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 16th minute of play. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Goderdzi Pawletko in the 18th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Stepan Firago prevented the ball from getting in the gole. The crowd rose to their feet as Georgia's Goderdzi Pawletko slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Stepan Firago. That made the score 3-0 after 25 minutes of play. A hard shot 32 in the game by Merdan Abesadze from a close distance when the talented Stepan Firago managed to make a qualified save. Belarus's players were relieved. Georgia's Merdan Abesadze was standing unmarked in front of the goal when he, in the 32nd play minute, got the ball and easily drilled it into the goal. Aleksandr Bannikov took the ball and in the 38 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Taka Levidze. Taka Levidze dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 4-1. Goderdzi Pawletko fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 40th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Stepan Firago having to interfere. 41 minutes into the match, Belarus's goalkeeper Stepan Firago had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Merdan Abesadze. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 4-1.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Sergey Demchenko made a kick off. 53 minutes into the game, Merdan Abesadze cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 5-1. Stepan Firago was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Merdan Abesadze sent away a hard shot on goal in the 57th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Stepan Firago showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Gocha Torotadze in the 58th minute of the match. Stepan Firago didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Merdan Abesadze went, in the 60th minute, to the upper right corner, 6-1 was the resulting score. 66 minutes into the match, Merdan Abesadze had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Stepan Firago. Belarus's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Merdan Abesadze was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 7-1. After a defensive mix-up in Belarus's zone, Gocha Torotadze stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Stepan Firago came out of the goal and Gocha Torotadze tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Georgia's Vaja Khatiashvili was substituted for Merdan Abesadze. Mateush Salanenko kicked well hit freekick during the 72nd minute of the match. Stepan Firago came out of the goal in the 74th minute to try and stop a shot by Georgia's Gocha Torotadze. But to his dismay, Gocha Torotadze quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 8-1. Stepan Firago stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Gocha Torotadze's shot from short distance in the 76th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gocha Torotadze in the 77th minute of play forced Belarus's goalkeeper Stepan Firago to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Stepan Firago made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Vaja Khatiashvili in the 82nd minute of play. Stepan Firago stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Gocha Torotadze's shot from short distance in the 98th minute. Georgia's fans were exulted and cheered after their team won in a match that could easily have gone the other way.