Georgia v Germany background
Monday, February 2, 2015
Article summary
New Georgia coach Kakhaber Tskhadadze's German experience may come in useful as his side take on the world champions in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group D.
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Article body
Georgia will hope their new coach's Bundesliga experience counts for something as they take on world champions Germany in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group D.
Previous meetings
• Georgia have lost all three of their previous games against Germany; one at home and two away.
• The sides' only competitive encounters came in EURO '96 qualifying, when Berti Vogts' Germany beat Aleksandre Chivadze's Georgia 2-0 in Tbilisi and 4-1 in Nuremberg.
• Former Georgia coach Temuri Ketsbaia put the visitors in front in the second game; his 28th-minute strike remains the only goal Georgia have scored against Germany at senior level.
• More recently, the teams met in a 2006 friendly in Rostock, with Joachim Löw's Germany winning 2-0 against a Georgia side led by German coach Klaus Toppmöller.
Form guide
• Georgia have had a tough start in Group D, recording three defeats and a 3-0 win in Gibraltar. Ketsbaia stepped down after five years as Georgia coach following a 4-0 home loss to Poland last time out.
• Georgia are without a win in their last five competitive home games – four defeats and a creditworthy 0-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw against France.
• Reigning world champions Germany have seven points after four games in the section. Their 2-0 loss to Poland in their second Group D game ended a run of 18 competitive fixtures without defeat (W16 D2).
Trivia and links
• New Georgia coach Kakhaber Tskhadadze played club football in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt from 1992 to 1996.
• Georgia come into this game having played exactly 100 competitive matches since independence, with their record reading W23 D19 L58.
• In six encounters in UEFA age-group competitions, Georgia's record against Germany is W0 D1 L5.
• In terms of UEFA club games, the record of Georgian teams against their German counterparts is W3 D2 L6. The most notable meeting, however, was a Georgian win, FC Dinamo Tbilisi beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2-1 in the 1981 European Cup Winners' Cup final; the teams were representing the USSR and East Germany respectively.
