Turkey began its Euro 2024 campaign with a 3-1 win against tournament debutant Georgia in the first match of Group F at the BVB Stadion Dortmund on Tuesday.
Mert Müldür opened the scoring for Turkey in the 25th minute, with a superb volley from the edge of the box. Two minutes later, Turkey thought that it had doubled the lead through Kenan Yildiz, but the goal was ruled out after VAR found that Yildiz was offside.
Georgia equalised through Georges Mikautadze who made history by scoring his nations first-ever European Championship goal.
AS IT HAPPENED | TURKEY VS GEORGIA HIGHLIGHTS, EURO 2024
In the second half, Arda Guler scripted history when he scored the winning goal for Turkey.
Guler took possession of the ball along the right side of the midfield, shifted to his left and hit a left-footed curler that kissed the net, leaving debutant Georgia gobsmacked.
With the goal, he became the youngest player to score on his debut at a European Championship finals (19 years and 114 days), surpassing the record set by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2004, at 19 years and 128 days.
“I am just thrilled, no words to describe how I feel. I was dreaming of this goal constantly. I am working extra hard to give back to the amazing love I’ve been receiving,” Guler said, who won the Player of the Match award.
“I’ve been practising this particular shot recently at the end of training sessions. I am so happy to have scored this way. (Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti) messaged me earlier today and wished me luck.”
RELATED: Arda Guler breaks record of Cristiano Ronaldo with goal in Turkiye vs Georgia
Georgia pressed for a late equaliser but, with Mamardashvili coming all the way up the field for a series of corners, Kerem Akturkoglu broke away, dashed down to the other end and passed into an empty net in added time to make it 3-1.
“We dreamed of starting with a win. We knew we were coming to a great atmosphere, playing like we’re at home. This is a great start but we’re just beginning. We had never started with a win at the Euros. This is historic for us. We need to stay grounded if we want this victory to mean something. It will only mean something if we can continue this way,” Akturkoglu said, after the match.
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