One opposition player will receive special attention when Northern Ireland begin their latest UEFA Nations League campaign against Georgia later today.
But Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill says the Georgians have many more strings to their bow than Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the attacker who has been compared to Northern Ireland icon George Best.
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kvaratskhelia, player of the season in the UEFA Champions League in 2025-26, has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or. He is on the 30-strong shortlist for the award that will be presented next month to the world’s best player.
O’Neill told media yesterday that his team will be keeping a close eye on Kvaratskhelia in the UNL League B Group 2 opener, which has a 5pm BST kick-off at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium (Dinamo Arena) in Tbilisi.
He pointed out: "For me he was probably the best player in the Champions League last season over the whole competition. We obviously have to give him special attention.
"It's the same when you play against any world class player in any country that you have to be aware that he can win the game in a moment, that he can create so much and he can lift his team as well."
However, O’Neill was keen to focus on his own side at the pre-match press conference held in Georgia’s national stadium.
He said the Northern Ireland squad is in good shape for the encounter in Tbilisi, pointing out the players have trained well and have been very focused this week.
Midfielder Jamie McDonnell had to pull out of the panel earlier this week due to injury, but the 27 other players in the squad are available for selection.
Northern Ireland are back in the second tier of the UEFA Nations League for the first time since relegation in 2020. They were promoted back to League B by winning their League C group in 2024. That group included Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Belarus.
In UNL B2 they will face Georgia twice (home and away) as well as Hungary at home – that game is on Monday - and Ukraine away in the next couple of weeks.
"I think this is a really high level where you will play teams that have either been in the World Cup or will qualify for Euro 2028," he pointed out.
"You're not playing against the top nations, the big nations, but for us as a very small nation this is still a big test for us.
"We know that to qualify for a major tournament we have to be able to win at this level and compete at this level."
The Northern Ireland manager noted yesterday that the Georgia squad has lots of good players apart from 25-year-old PSG attacker Kvaratskhelia, who has scored 23 goals in 50 appearances for his country.
For starters there’s Liverpool keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili (38 caps) and dangerous attacking midfielder Giorgi Chakvetadze (39 caps, 10 goals), the former Watford man who plays for Udinese in Italy’s Serie A these days.
Striker Georges Mikautadze, who stars for Villareal in La Liga, has a better goals to games ratio than the team’s superstar. He has scored 23 times in 43 matches.
Two other good operators in the engine room are Otar Kiteishvili (54 caps, four goals) and Zuriko Davitashvili (54 caps, seven goals). They ply their trade with Strum Graz in Austria and French side St Etienne respectively.
And at the back they have two solid defenders in Otar Kakabadze and Lasha Dvali. Kakabadze, who has been capped 77 times, plays for Cracovia in Poland’s top flight, while Dvali (48 caps) is on the books of Bulgarian side CSKA 1948.
Today’s game is being shown live on BBC 2 Northern Ireland, BBC 2 network and on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport NI website. There will also be commentary on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds. And you can follow it on Northern Ireland social channels.
