host country, Germany crushes Scotland in the opening match and starts its competition perfectly

The German team left no chance to the timid Scots on Friday in Munich (5-1), and launched “its” Euro in an ideal manner.

A demonstration. Germany swept away Scotland in a one-sided encounter, Friday June 14, in the opening match of the Euro (5-1). In Munich, Julian Nagelsmann’s men never let the Scots believe it, taking them by the throat from the start, scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes through Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala.

Kai Havertz tripled the lead before half-time from the penalty spot, which earned Ryan Porteous a red card for a very dangerous move on Ilkay Gündogan. In the second half, Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can also participated in the celebration but Scotland however saved the honor at the very end of the match with an own goal from Antonio Rüdiger. There Nationalelf gets off to a perfect start to its home competition, and takes the reins of Group A. In the other match, Switzerland and Hungary face each other on Saturday (3 p.m.).

It is never easy to negotiate an opening match, but Germany could not have done much better than the performance offered on Friday. She who experienced an earthquake at the 2022 World Cup by going out a second time in a row in the first round, before continuing a catastrophic year 2023, had to redeem himself for “his” Euro, the first at home since 1988.

Faced with a spectator Scottish team from the start, overwhelmed by the combinations of the Wirtz-Havertz-Musiala trio, the Nationalelf played attack-defense football led by Toni Kroos: 75% ball possession after 15 minutes, no Scottish shot in the entire match, and a technical unemployment for Manuel Neuer who touched… 15 balls.

Florian Wirtz (10th), on a throw-back from Joshua Kimmich, then Jamal Musiala, with a cross strike after a delicious opening from Ilkay Gündogan (19th), quickly put the Tartan Army (the Scottish fans) out of reach.

Steve Clark’s men made their task a little more complicated just before the break. Following a mix-up in the area, Ryan Porteous came to shear Gündogan’s shin: penalty and logical red card for the Watford defender, who was playing his first match at the Euro (45th+1).

Already off to a very bad start, the affairs of Scotland, reduced to ten, then became impossible. The second half was similar to the first, with attempts from Gündogan and Wirtz (58th).

The scorers came out, their replacements took over: Niclas Füllkrug, with a shot fired into the top corner of the unfortunate Angus Gunn (68th), for his 12th goal in 17 selections. Then Emre Can (90th + 3), with a placed strike, added to the bill and took care of the German goal difference despite the own goal (CSC) from Rüdiger, whose header deflected the ball into his own goal ( 88th).

In management, never worried, Germany could not have dreamed of a better start to gain confidence and gain strength. By taking the lead in a group A well within its reach with Switzerland and Hungary, it can already foresee the round of 16.