Euro-2024: Germany makes an idyllic debut against Scotland to launch “its” tournament

Under pressure from an entire nation for “their” Euro-2024 on home soil, Germany made an idyllic start by beating Scotland 5-1 in Munich on Friday, confirming their status as contenders for the title in a month's time in Berlin.

Germany's technical, physical and tactical demonstration, against a Scottish team that played the entire second half with a numerical inferiority due to a very nasty foul by Ryan Porteous, will have to be confirmed in five days in Stuttgart against Hungary, to put itself in an ideal position with a view to first place in the group, before facing Switzerland in Frankfurt on June 23.

In the space of nine minutes thanks to the achievements of its two nuggets Florian Wirtz (10th) and Jamal Musiala (19th), Julian Nagelsmann's Germany put away the very bad memories of the past, these defeats at the start of the Cups of the world in 2018 (against Mexico) and in 2022 (against Japan), and at the Euro in 2021 (against France) which resulted in failed tournaments (eliminations in the first round or in the round of 16). 60~/p>

German Jamal Musiala (d) against Scottish defender Anthony Ralston, June 14, 2024 in Munich © AFP – DAMIEN MEYER

Only small regret for the German defense: for the twelfth consecutive time in a major tournament, it did not manage to finish a match without conceding a goal, since Antonio Rüdiger deceived his own goalkeeper with a header Manuel Neuer at the end of the match.

Quadruple world champion (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) and triple European champion (1972, 1980, 1996), l Germany wants to relive its summer fairy tale of 2006, during the World Cup which it organized and finished in 3rd place, the start of a decade (2006-2016) of continuous presence in the last four of the major competitions.

– Füllkrug Missile –

And there was a scent of the “Sommermärchen” of 2006 in the air on Friday in Munich, in the same ultra-modern stadium which launched the adventure 18 years ago against Costa Rica (4-2). Starting with the tribute paid to Kaiser Franz Beckenbauer, great organizer of the 2006 World Cup and who died in January at the age of 78.

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Niclas Füllkrug has just scored the 4th German goal against Scotland, June 14, 2024 in Munich © AFP – DAMIEN MEYER

Seeing the intensity put by the Germans from the first seconds of the match on the Scottish defense, the German coach's plan was very clear: to extinguish the very noisy Scottish Tartan Army as quickly as possible. And it went off without a hitch.

In the 10th minute, at the entrance to the penalty area, Florian Wirtz deceived Angus Gunn with a clear strike that the “Bravehearts” goalkeeper could only deflect onto his post. The Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder thus became the Mannschaft's youngest scorer at a European Championship, having celebrated his 21st birthday on May 3.

Overwhelmed by the speed of the German game, the Scottish defense once again gave in in the 19th minute, on a superb combination between Ilkay Gündogan, who found Kai Havertz in the depth. The Arsenal striker served behind Jamal Musiala who opened the goal with a hook before firing a powerful shot under the crossbar.

The Scotsman Ryan Porteous (l) makes a foul on the German Ilkay Gündogan which will earn him exclusion, on June 14, 2024 in Munich © AFP – Tobias SCHWARZ

For Steve Clarke's men, the first 45 minutes will have to be quickly forgotten, because just before the break, Ryan Porteous saw red, for a well pressed sole on Gündogan. Havertz converted the penalty awarded by French referee Clément Turpin after the video assist.

In the second half, Niclas Füllkrug added to the score with a missile flashed at 100 km/h after another exceptional piece of work from Jamal Musiala, released in the 74th minute to ovations from the stadium where he plays with Bayern. And Emre Can scored in added time to complete the German success.

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