Not everyone was thrilled when Ireland were drawn against Georgia for the second qualification campaign in a row, the fourth time in 12 years, because Georgia are a side that have proven their ability to claim surprise results against higher seeded teams, thanks largely to the emergence of a crop of talented midfielders.
But really, Ireland always seem to find a way to win against the tricky former member of the Soviet republic that’s home to Caucasus Mountain villages.
Not only that, but Georgia have developed a knack for picking up results that directly benefit the Republic of Ireland. That is absolutely grand in our book, and we'd like to celebrate this nation for their services to Irish football (provided they remember how sound they are when we have to play them away next year).
Georgia's record against Ireland: Played 8, won 0, drawn 0, lost 8.
The result has always managed to work out for the boys in green. Whether it was Gary Doherty wearing number nine as our country's first choice striker and getting his big noggin on some crosses, or Aiden McGeady briefly transforming into the player we all hoped he was going to be with a moment of brilliance in Tbilisi.
4 European Championship qualifiers, 3 World Cup qualifiers, and 1 friendly match, each match ending in defeat for Georgia.
And yet, it's never an easy match.
Apart from a hammering in a friendly where Ireland put four past their opponents who were taking the game far less seriously, every game has been decided by two goals or less. 2-0, 2-1, 1-0. Those are the only scorelines registered in competitive games. None of them comfortable.
We have had a lot of luck in defeating them on occasion, the phantom handball penalty comes to mind... And they have also had moments of madness undo some good work, but they are no pushovers.
They played a huge role in our Euro 2016 qualification.
Having watch Scotland desperately struggle to secure a point at home to Lithuania at the weekend, I found myself wondering how this same Scottish side had taken four points from Ireland in the last campaign, but the reality is that many Irish fans accepted that all hope was lost after we were beaten in Glasgow.
Instead, a wonderstrike from a beautiful man by the name of Valeri Qazaishvili swung momentum back in our favour in a 1-0 win that ultimately cost Scotland 3rd place. We needed Thomas Muller to go big for us a few days later too, but those defeats were the difference.
Thanks, lads.
And now they've done it again with a huge performance against Wales.
When Gareth Bale gave the Euro 2016 semi-finalists the lead within 10 minutes, it looked as though they were set to cruise to a win over a team they were comfortably better than, however, when the final whistle blew it was the away team who will have felt that they should have won it.
Georgia played the second half of that match like they did the first half in Dublin last week, and as they were missing Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen, Wales couldn't cope in midfield. Along with our hero from the Scotland game, Tornike Okriashvili capped a seriously impressive performance with a goal that left the Cardiff crowd stunned. Were it not for dire finishing from that clown wearing number 23, a massive upset could have been the result.
But Jesus, we'll take the point.
Their captain attended to Robbie Brady despite his teammate writhing in pain.
Maybe he's a Norwich City fan, but Guram Kashia was quick to assist when Robbie Brady was knocked unconsious by a clash of heads last Thursday. He snapped into action and tried to help, the act of a good bloke.
In fact, aside from the fella in the scrumcap being a pest, and the striker who thinks he's billy big bollocks, they're all sound.
But not their keeper, he's a bit of a dickhead.
Ireland have an ever growing list of opposing goalkeepers who we dislike intensely for committing the most infuriating offence; acting the maggot.
Dudu Aoute of Isreal remains the standout in terms of complete arsechancery, and by that eejit's standards Giorgi Loria isn't the worst. But he screamed in Shane Long's face when the Southampton striker wasn't even appealing for a penalty, he was taking his sweet fecking time with those goal kicks, and he caused drama at every set-piece.
In summary; a great bunch of lads.
We sincerely hope this isn't tempting fate, and we are under no illusions as to the task that faces Martin O'Neill's men when they travel to Tbilisi in September 2017. That said, this group of players have secured some big results for us in recent times and by now they should be everybody's second favourite team.
If we can get a win next year, and they can get another result against Serbia or Austria, we should celebrate their independence day every May 29th. From a quick google I think it's called Damoukideblobis Dghe.
Let's learn more about this great country.
Here are some fun facts about the nation of Georgia, we really should know more if they're going to help us to reach another tournament.
-The population of Georgia is roughly 4.47 million. That's very similar to Ireland.
-The period between 12th and 13th century is known as the Georgia’s Golden Age or Georgian Renaissance when the Kingdom of Georgia reached its peak both politically and culturally, under the reigns of David the builder and Queen Tamar.
-The world’s deepest cave is the Voronya Cave in Georgia.
-Georgia is divided into two regions called the west and the east by a chain of mountains called the Likhi Range of mountains.
-The most spoken language in Georgia is Georgian, followed by Russian.
-The name of the capital of Georgia, T’bilisi has been derived from the Georgian word for warm.
The Khachapuri, filled bread (mostly cheese) is very famous Georgian culinary, exported to various former Soviet states and Russia.
They named their capital city 'Warm' and they're mad for cheese toasties. Sounds like my kind of place.
Keep up the good work, Vladimír Weiss (not the former Rangers winger, his dad, the manager), just don't go bucking the trend against our boys for another few years.
[Interesting fun facts via interestingfunfacts.com]
