With their opening-round thrashing of Scotland, Germany set the tone for the entire European Championship. With three goals already in the bag for the Tartan Army before halftime and Ryan Porteous sent off, the second half was a formality. Fillurkrug finished off his opponent in the second half, and Nagelsmann experimented with various midfield and attacking options.
It was expected that Germany would take control right away. The outstanding Toni Kroos ensured control by speeding up the game at the perfect moment after long, leisurely rallies. The first three goals were all set up by his passes. In the initial one, Kroos swung the ball sharply diagonally to Kimmich’s right. After waiting for Gundogan and Havertz to enter the box, he sent a cross across the penalty area to a free-scoring Wirtz, who calmly placed the ball into the bottom corner.
In just ten minutes, Wirtz had figured out the basic strategy for reaching the goal, and his colleague Musiala went ballistic in the same amount of time. Again, Kroos found Gundogan in space between the lines and unleashed the onslaught. With a graceful turn, Ilkay found Havertz in the penalty area with a pass. Musiala took it up a notch after receiving it from Kai, who paused in his trademark fashion.
Germany kept playing at a leisurely pace until halftime, while Scotland made multiple crosses into the middle of the field. Dribbling by Musiala was an additional potent weapon alongside passes from Toni and openings created by Gundogan. Just before halftime, Mittelstedt had another cutback, and Jamal was on the verge of earning a penalty for a foul that occurred just centimeters from the penalty area. Also, near the end of the first half, an assault was started by Jamal’s solo pass and ended with an 11-meter penalty following a devastating two-footed tackle by Porteous on Gundo. Havertz made the penalty kick.
As the game progressed into halftime, Musiala maintained his devastating dribbling style. After he scored on his own, Wirtz almost beat the goalkeeper with a shot, and then he scored again after a risky cross. Gunn was hit by a fresh Füllkrug shot 16 meters following Jamal’s subsequent pass. Both of the goals scored by the Dortmund forward were marginally offside.
Finally, Scotland had a little cause to celebrate when Rudiger scored an own goal off a wild rebound. However, Can responded with a long-range shot in the dying seconds, and the advantage was restored by four goals.
five to one. Motivated Germany showed incredible efficiency right from the start, and they got off to a fantastic start. Musiala and Wirtz’s individual brilliance, backed by Kroos’s and Gundogan’s experience, provided the hosts with a feast of football. For the most part, today everything worked out as planned. Proceeding, however, will be significantly more challenging.