Georgia
Georgia and Albania’s presence at Euro 2024 is sign of eastern resurgence | Jonathan Wilson
On 14 July, the European champions will be crowned in Berlin. No one really expects a former communist country to win in the city whose division once symbolised the cold war but perhaps, finally, 35 years after the Wall came down, the eastern part of the continent is beginning from a football perspective to regather its strength.
Not including Germany (two players in their provisional squad were born in the east), 11 of the 24 teams at the Euros will be from the former Soviet bloc, as opposed to eight in 2020 and 2016. Even including the two hosts, Poland and Ukraine, five of the 16 were from the east in 2012; there were five in 2008, 2004 and 1996 and four in 2000.
Individual countries have impressed at tournaments – the Czech Republic in 1996 and perhaps even more so in 2004, Russia in 2008, Croatia repeatedly – but this is the first time since the heyday of the Mitropa Cup that anywhere near half of the participants at any major finals have been from the Soviet bloc.
That may in part be to do with the expansion of the tournament to 24 teams – there are not many western European countries that did not make it. The Nations League essentially offers a short cut for a rising in-form side with a low coefficient, rather than having to slowly improve, advancing from seeding pot to seeding pot before getting a manageable draw.
That has favoured smaller countries (but not absolute minnows) who have a footballing heritage, often as part of a larger entity, but without the population to be successful consistently. For North Macedonia last time, read Georgia this.
Whatever the impact of changes in the competition format, an increase of more than a third on four years ago is not insignificant. But even to speak of the post-communist sides as one bloc these days feels anachronistic. If the situation in Poland or Romania ever had much in common with the situation in Slovenia or Ukraine, which is debatable, they do not now.
After 1989, the state-run academies that had once produced players lost their funding. The Romania and the Bulgaria of 1994, the Croatia of 1996 and 1998, even the Dynamo Kyiv team that reached the Champions League semi-final in 1999, were a hangover of those state institutions, based around the last players to receive that state training. After that came the dearth. But now sides from the east are, slowly, unsurely, beginning to emerge again.
Hungary’s rise has perhaps been the most dramatic, if only because they were coming from the lowest base. The extended golden age when they reached World Cup finals in 1938 and 1954 had long since collapsed, undermined by the attacks on the two great well-springs of the culture that had produced it: the far-right government shut down MTK Budapest in 1940 because it was perceived as a Jewish club and the communists, after nationalising football in 1949, deliberately downgraded Ferencvaros because they were seen as the team of the ethnically German working classes.
When Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Kocsis and Zoltan Czibor, plus the entire under-21 squad, defected as a result of the brutal Soviet repression of the Uprising in 1956, there was nothing to replace it.
Largely through tax breaks, the autocratic prime minister, Víktor Orban, has encouraged investment in football while establishing an academy in his home village of Felcsut. Since his return to power, in 2010, more than 40 stadiums have been constructed or renovated, including the 65,000-capacity Puskas Arena that will host the Champions League final in 2026, while 1,590 new pitches have been laid and 2,800 others refurbished.
The result has been a distinct upturn. In 2016, Hungary reached their first major tournament in 30 years and have qualified for both Euros since, while their league has risen from 32nd to 24th in the Uefa rankings.
The picture in Serbia is similar, if not so dramatic. The big two Belgrade clubs, Red Star and Partizan, have received state backing in recent years. Red Star have further benefited from a lucrative sponsorship deal with Gazprom and both have focused on their academies.
The result is that in 2021 the CIES football observatory ranked Serbia sixth globally for player production, although they have fallen slightly since. Serbia’s league, though, is ranked 19th by Uefa; theirs is still largely an export economy.
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Georgia will be the lowest-ranked side in Germany and even if they finished their qualifying group behind Spain, Scotland and Norway, their progress via the Nations League should not be regarded as the equivalent of winning a raffle.
As part of a general focus on youth development, Georgia has hosted Uefa under-19 and under-21 tournaments in the past seven years. The number of male players playing the game has increased by a factor of 2.5 in that time (and the number of female players by a factor of 10) as investment, some of it from Uefa grants, has improved facilities. That the Georgian league ranks 46th of 55 in Europe, which suggests there is some way to go.
If the rise of Hungary and, to a lesser extent, Serbia and Georgia, feels sustainable, based on solid foundations, Albania’s does not. They won one of 11 games in 2022, but have been inspired by their coach, the former Arsenal full-back Sylvinho, who promoted a string of previously unheralded players and produced an eight-game unbeaten run to finish top of their qualifying group.
Their league is ranked 47th. Sometimes teams simply come together and that perhaps indicates the wider point. The greatest testament to how far the post-communist bloc has moved on is, while they may all have been facing a similar problem 30 years ago, how their cases feel remarkably varied.
The old model of state control has gone and while forms of state investment has returned in some areas, new ways of funding development have been found. Not all will endure.
But as the shadow of Soviet control retreats further into the past, the most striking aspect of the 11 post-communist qualifiers is how little they have in common.
Don’t sleep on the Yellow Jackets heading into the 2026 season.
They have several big games in conference play against some of the conference’s elite. As they have shown us before, they are no stranger to pulling off big-time victories and shocking the college football world, especially as an underdog. Let’s talk about three reasons why the Yellow Jackets can beat the ACC elite this upcoming season.
1. They’ve Done It Before
Georgia Tech is no stranger to beating top ACC teams in the Brent Key era. They have done it consistently, multiple times. There are a myriad of examples to point to. You can go to the North Carolina game back in 2023, played in primetime on the Flats.
The Yellow Jackets defeated top pick and now New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye in a 46-42 victory. You can go back to the 2024 season in Ireland when the Yellow Jackets upset then No.10 Florida State 24-21. In that same year, Georgia Tech knocked off future No.1 overall pick Cam Ward and the No.4 Miami Hurricanes, handing them their first loss of the season in a 28-23.
There are many other examples I can point to illustrate this point, but you can see the Yellow Jackets never back down and come to play when it matters most against the elite teams in the conference. They have done it with a good offense and an opportunistic defense. With Louisville, Clemson, and Virginia Tech on the schedule, they should be primed to do it again in 2026.
2. Georgia Tech Has An Identity
It is pretty simple: under head coach Brent Key, this Yellow Jackets team has an identity and a culture that sets it apart. They want to play physical, smash-mouth football and dominate you in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Coach Key has meant what he said this offseason about getting more size and girth, but also having offensive linemen who can move. It was one of the reasons why they were aggressive in the portal and one of the reasons why they are having success with the 2027 cycle.
When you look at Georgia Tech, they are going to run the football and play good defense. That makes the job easier for a first-time starter in Alberto Mendoza, who has a lighter load with the moves made this offseason. When you play in those major matchups, you have to lean on something to come out on top, and what better way than the true identity of your team?
3. The Defense Will Be Much Better
From top to bottom, the Yellow Jackets are poised to be much better defensively. When you look at the depth of the roster, the new defensive scheme, the talent level, and the hunger, you have a team that should be one of the better units in the conference. In order to beat the conference elite, you have to have a good defense that can travel and make plays late in games to seal it for you.
While Georgia Tech showed glimpses of that a season ago, the consistency in November just wasn’t there. With Jason Semore becoming the new defensive coordinator and a more attack-style, aggressive man-to-man defense, Georgia Tech should be equipped to force more turnovers and make a difference by getting the ball back to the offense.
The spring gave us a good glimpse of what the defense could look like despite so many injuries and players out. The defense flat-out shut down the Yellow Jackets, creating constant pressure and causing havoc for an offense trying to find its footing in the spring game. While some will say to take it with a grain of salt, it is clear that the Yellow Jackets will be a much better unit in 2026.
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Pennsbury Baseball Zuckerman District One Championship PIAA
Pennsbury junior Brendan Zuckerman smacks an RBI single to left in the Falcons’ 7-run first inning of District One 6A championship victory
Ryan Zuckerman is last on the alphabetical list of the 335 college and high school baseball players attending the June 22-27 MLB Draft Combine in Phoenix.
What the 2023 Pennsbury graduate did in his lone season at Georgia Tech has garnered him plenty of attention from MLB scouts regardless of where his name is on a list that includes Holy Ghost Prep grad Aiden Robbins, a Texas outfield standout who is expected to go as early as late in the first round, fellow Pennsbury graduate Joe Tiroly, an infielder from Virginia, and Pennsbury senior right-handed pitcher Keller Bradley.
MVP of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament for the conference champion Yellow Jackets, second-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and leader in home runs (23) and RBIs (79, tied for eighth in the country) for the high-powered Georgia Tech offense are just a few of Zuckerman’s notable accomplishments heading into the July 11-13 draft. He is projected to go toward the middle of the 20 rounds.
“It’s pretty surreal for sure,” said Zuckerman, 21. “It’s something I dreamed of my whole life.”
In a season filled with memorable moments, perhaps most impressive was Zuckerman being named ACC Tournament MVP after hitting three home runs with six RBIs and batting .571 (8 for 14), culminating in a 13-6 championship game win over North Carolina in Charlotte. He also was a first-team All-ACC selection at third base.
Zuckerman and Georgia Tech went into the NCAA Atlanta regional as the nation’s No. 2 seed. Though the 50-11 Yellow Jackets ended up being eliminated by losing twice to Oklahoma, including 8-7 in 10 innings for the regional title, Zuckerman can only rave about his experience at Georgia Tech.
“If you would have told me that’s how the season for me and each of us on the team would’ve gone, I would’ve been extremely happy,” Zuckerman said. “It was probably the best decision I ever made in my life.”
After a solid sophomore season at Pitt in which he hit .295 with 16 doubles, 13 home runs, 48 RBIs and 48 runs scored, Zuckerman believed transferring would help him develop into a more pro-ready player and allow him to win more games. And Georgia Tech checked all the boxes
In addition to his career-best home run and RBI numbers, Zuckerman led Georgia Tech in 2026 with 24 multi-RBI games while establishing career-highs in batting average (.345), runs (71), hits (80), walks (37), slugging percentage (.720) and on-base percentage (.438). He batted fifth in the order.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Zuckerman, who always had a strong arm, also worked hard to improve his defense at third base, resulting in 15.99 defensive runs saved for the season, which was the 13th-highest total in college baseball.
“I like to say I’m arguably the best third baseman in the country,” he said.
As a senior playing third at Pennsbury, Zuckerman hit .465 with an on-base percentage of .563, plus six doubles, six home runs, 23 RBIs and scored 26 runs.
“In high school, he was incredible for us,” said Pennsbury head coach Joe Pesci. “(A year ago), he decided to go from a mid- to low ACC team to the best team in the ACC. Surrounding himself with amazing players at Georgia Tech, he’s kind of elevated his game.”
Since the conclusion of the collegiate season, Zuckerman has been working out in preparation for the MLB Draft Combine and, ultimately, the draft. He’s been splitting his time between Yardley and Atlanta.
MLB teams have indicated Zuckerman’s power bat and defense are two of his strengths, while he’s focusing on improving his swing selection and making more contact at the plate.
Zuckerman is looking forward to hearing his name called by one of the 30 major league clubs. Whether a team views him as a third baseman, first baseman, corner outfielder or even second baseman doesn’t really matter to him.
“I think right now I’m in a great position to go and play professional baseball and start my journey up to the big leagues,” Zuckerman said. “The goal is not to get drafted – it’s to play MLB.”
Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
Georgia
Georgia pair charged with murder after bartender’s dismembered remains found in lake outside Atlanta
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A Georgia pair have been charged with murder after allegedly slaughtering a bartender and dumping his dismembered remains in a lake, according to authorities.
Mario Andre Barber, 46, and Brittany Amber Baker, 42, were arrested on Monday for allegedly murdering Jamal Rashad Parker, 37, in a home outside of Atlanta, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
Investigators discovered Parker’s remains in May in the Dog River Reservoir, located about 30 miles outside Atlanta.
Parker’s identity was confirmed using DNA comparison technology after his father contacted authorities to report that the victim’s tattoos matched his son’s ink, local station WSB-TV reported.
MINNESOTA MAN ACCUSED OF DISMEMBERING GIRLFRIENDS, HIDING BODIES IN STORAGE UNITS ENTERS PLEA
Mario Andre Barber, 46, and Brittany Amber Baker, 42, are charged with murder. (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators believe the two suspects killed Parker inside a home in Douglasville where Baker lived.
Late last month, investigators were observed leaving the home with a reciprocating saw and cleaning supplies, according to WSB-TV.
Police have not disclosed if Parker knew his alleged killers. However, a GoFundMe created by a family member described the pair as “people he knew and trusted.”
SUZANNE SIMPSON’S DNA FOUND ON MURDER SUSPECT HUSBAND’S SAW THAT CAN CUT METAL
A family member described Jamal Rashad Parker as a bartender, musician and artist with “a beautiful soul and spirit.” (GoFundMe)
The suspects pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday and are being held without bond. Both have lengthy criminal records, according to reports.
“I want them to be punished. And I don’t even think a life sentence is good enough,” Parker’s dad, Charles Parker, told WSB-TV outside the courthouse.
“It’s the kind of stuff you see on TV, but I mean … they had no remorse,” he added.
In addition to bartending at Ms. Icey’s Kitchen & Bar in Atlanta, the victim was a musician and artist with “a beautiful soul and spirit,” according to the GoFundMe page created to cover burial costs.
Investigators believe the two suspects killed the victim inside a home in Douglasville. (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office)
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“He loved life and the people he met along his journey in life. He was a musical artist, visual artist, and a professional bartender who enjoyed creating new drinks. This has totally devastated our family and friends and has left us heartbroken,” the fundraiser reads.
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