It’s fair to say that Germany’s Euro 2024 opener against Scotland couldn’t have gone much better as they cruised to a 5-1 victory in Munich.
By Nathan Evans
Not only did that scoreline do a lot to promote the hosts into the discussion around potential tournament winner after just one performance alongside France and England in particular, but the win also acted as both the biggest by a host nation in their opening match at a European Championship, as well as their own biggest victory ever at the EUROs.
Much had been spoken beforehand about how this Germany squad was weaker than usual on paper, but it seems that manager Julian Nagelsmann has masterminded the perfect balance of youth and experience which showed on matchday one.
Youngsters Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala stole the show in attack, both getting on the scoresheet and proving dangerous for the Scottish backline throughout, whilst Kai Havertz, Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can also struck as ten-man Scotland proved no match for Die Mannschaft.
Next up is Hungary, who themselves already have their collective backs against the wall after they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Switzerland on Saturday. Not only was the result not what Dominik Szoboszlai and co. were hoping for, but their overall performance left a lot to be desired in Cologne.
That was particularly evident in the first half as they headed into the break two goals down due to some lacklustre defending which failed to stop the Swiss from easily cutting through their backline. Despite a second half goal from Barnabas Varga which renewed confidence as Hungary played much better, Switzerland’s Breel Embolo sealed the match on the break with a clever lobbed finish in injury time.
That leaves Marco Rossi’s side in the unenviably position of likely needing to get something from this second match against Germany in order to qualify for the knockout rounds. He’ll need to act quickly on the training ground to try and raise his side’s morale in particular, as despite losing just one of their 16 internationals heading into the tournament, they fell well short when it finally mattered in their Euro 2024 opener.
If there’s a silver lining to be found ahead of this clash with Germany though, it’s that of late, the Hungarians have proved tough to beat for the host nation. That’s been particularly evident on German soil too as Hungary have lost just one of the last six such meetings which still leaves them relatively well-placed to cause a much needed upset in this latest clash.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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