Scotland without a chance
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They would like to become European champions for the 4th time in history, for the first time since 1996 - and Germany have now successfully overcome the first of seven hurdles on their way to the title! In the opening match of the 17th European Football Championship, the DFB team gave underdog Scotland a 5:1 defeat ...
A temperature of 17 degrees Celsius, 69 percent humidity and a light breeze - at the start of the match, the Allianz Arena in Munich presented itself as an almost perfect venue for the very first of 51 matches at this European Championship. At least for the team of national coach Julian Nagelsmann, who, as expected, opted for a 4-2-3-1 system.
Wirtz knocks on the Scots' door early on
The Scots, whose fans had "won" against the Germans in terms of volume when the anthems were sung before the game, were at a disadvantage practically from the moment referee Clément Turpins kicked off and would probably have felt more comfortable in Nordic conditions with strong winds, rain showers and temperatures around freezing point. After less than a minute, Florian Wirtz knocked on the Scots' goal, but Angus Gunn was able to save. Of course, the DFB youngster was offside, so the goal after a long pass from Antonio Rüdiger would not have counted ...
Wirtz scores to give the DFB team an early 1-0 lead
The Germans kept the pressure on against the "Bravehearts", who were no longer quite as brave as planned, and after they had "spied" the Scottish defense a little, the time had come in minute 10: Starting with Toni Kroos, the ball landed via Joshua Kimmich to Wirtz, who shot from the edge of the penalty area - goalkeeper Gunn still had a hand on it, but the 1:0 for Germany was then sealed via the inside bar. The Scots, who had even beaten Spain in the qualifiers for the European Championship, were finally out of the picture, with the DFB team dominating possession statistics at times with 75:25 percent.
Musiala makes it 2:0 for Germany
And in the 19th minute, the dominance on the pitch was also reflected on the scoreboard: After preparatory work from captain İlkay Gündoğan, Kai Havertz initially missed the target, but after a clever return pass to Jamal Musiala, he then increased Germany's lead to 2:0 with an important shot under the crossbar. Six minutes later, Musiala was again at the center of attention when he was felled by Ryan Christie and Kieran Tierney on the edge of the penalty area - but after a VAR check, the penalty initially awarded was withdrawn and converted into a free-kick from just outside the penalty area. However, this did not result in anything ...
Scotsman sees red and Havertz scores to make it 3:0
However, there was still a penalty in the first half - in minute 42, referee Turpin whistled a penalty for the "Nagelsmen", but the Scots were unable to take advantage of their temporary breather. Gündoğan got to the ball again after a header was inadequately cleared by goalkeeper Gunn, but was roughly pushed into the horizontal by Ryan Porteous before the shot on goal - the Scot saw red and Havertz shortly afterwards increased to 3:0 for the European Championship hosts from the penalty spot ...
DFB team chase Scots right through their penalty area
With one man less in the game and three goals behind, even the Bravehearts on the pitch and the Tartan Army fans in the stands were deflated, the belief in a sensation evaporating like the belief in the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. The DFB team now acted in the style of a class team, putting on a real power play and chasing the Scots across their penalty area, who were now at times pressing in a 7-2-0 formation.
Substitute Füllkrug lets Germany celebrate
Initially, however, Germany "only" created half-chances through Antonio Rüdiger (51'), Pascal Groß (57'), Wirtz (58'), Gündoğan (59'), Wirtz (61') and substitute Leroy Sané (63'). BVB striker Niclas Füllkrug, who came on as a substitute like the Bayern star in the 63rd minute, was then given the opportunity to get the Vidiwall moving again after five minutes on the Munich Arena pitch: After Musiala's preparatory work on the left, Gündoğan initially missed the ball, but the brawny striker shot powerfully into the top right-hand corner from 14 meters out.
Füllkrug almost made it 5:0 a little later (75'), but after an ideal pass from substitute Thomas Müller, the goalscorer was a touch too far forward - offside! However, the avalanche of goals on the opening day of Euro 2024 was far from over after Füllkrug's goal was disallowed. Even though the Scots were basically harmless and colourless, they still managed to score.
Rüdiger sinks the ball into his own box with his head
It was, of course, an own goal for the Germans, who were more or less blameless when Rüdiger got a hand to a cross and headed the ball into his own box - which, incidentally, was guarded for most of the time by an unemployed Manuel Neuer. The fact that the four-goal margin for the "Nagelsmen" ultimately remained the same was thanks to emergency nail Emre Can; the BVB man, who only joined the squad shortly before the start of the European Championship to replace the injured Aleksandar Pavlovic, scored from 17 meters after a pass from Müller to make the final score 5:1.
As a little heads-up to the competition at this European Championship: The highest victory to date at the start of a final tournament - European Championship or World Cup - was achieved by a DFB team in 2014 with a 4-0 win over Portugal. With the well-known outcome that the title ultimately went to Germany ...
The result:
Germany - Scotland 5:1 (1:0)
Munich, Allianz Arena, 66,000 spectators, referee Clément Turpin
Goals: 1:0 (10) Wirtz, 2:0 (19) Musiala, 3:0 (45.+1) Havertz (penalty), 4:0 (68) Füllkrug, 4:1 (87) Rüdiger, 5:1 (90.+3) Can
Red card: Porteous (44th/foul)
Yellow cards: Andrich, Tah and Ralston respectively
Germany: Neuer - Kimmich, Rüdiger, Tah, Mittelstädt - Andrich (46. Groß), Kroos (80. Can) - Musiala (74. Müller), Gündogan, Wirtz (63. Sane) - Havertz (63. Füllkrug)
Scotland: Gunn - Porteous, Hendry, Tierney (78. McKenna) - Ralston, McTominay, McGregor (67. Gilmour), Robertson - Christie (82. Shankland), Adams (46. Hanley), McGinn (67. McLean)
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