Tbilisi Tales - Georgia v. Italy (October 11)

Occasional Tales from our Life in the Republic of Georgia

Time for one final "Tbilisi Tales" before we head down south to begin our life in Costa Rica...

On October 11, Italy's national soccer team traveled to Tbilisi to take on Georgia in a Euro 2008 qualification match. Our good friend Grigol, who happens to know just about everyone in Georgia, got us into a special training session for the Italian team and the pre-game press conference the night before the match. THANK YOU GRIGOL!

Sophie got to hang out with the Campioni del Mondo (Champions of the World) and exchanged high-fives through the team bus window with Italy Captian and European Footballer of the Year, Fabio Cannavaro. Amy even got thrown out of the Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel for trying to stalk the team!

Grigol, Amy, Sophie, and Goga at the Italy practice

The Azzurri preparing for the game against Georgia

Jason, Amy, and Sophie at the stadium

The next night Georgia and Italy battled it out before more than 60,000 (all Georgian) fans at the national stadium. After Italy took an early lead, Georgia fought back to tie the game at 1-1. Needless to say the stadium went nuts. Italy scored twice more to make the final score 3-1, but Georgia put on a great show. Read more about the game by clicking here.

What a great way to wrap up our time in Tbilisi. Thanks to our friend Roland and his son Nik for inviting us to the game.