Euro 2024 Group A: Germany garnered a win of 5-1 against Scotland
Should Scotland be the guest team for all opening games of the European Championships? The palpable fervour and sheer magnitude of international football was wonderfully represented by the spirited Scottish supporters in Munich on Friday night.
Regrettably for Scotland, the electrifying ambiance they established seemed to invigorate no one more than the 11 German players on the field.
The boisterous pre-match scene featured a myriad of poignant instances, one of which included legendary Scot, Alex Ferguson, broadcasted on the big screen, his message eliciting thunderous cheers from his fans. At the age of 82, this formerly controversial figure has morphed into a national icon whom all Scots unite around. The poignant rendition of Flower of Scotland, sung by 20,000 Scottish fans, their voices hoarse from two days of harmonising in Munich’s plazas, is an unforgettable memory.
These were times when every outcome seemed plausible until Clement Turpin’s whistle cut the atmosphere, signaling the commencement of Germany’s systematic dismantling of the Scottish defense.
It was common knowledge that Billy Gilmour was Scotland’s key central midfield player, hence Steve Clarke’s decision to bench him and play the more resilient Ryan Christie instead was profoundly unexpected.
Clarke’s tactics could be inferred. Given Germany’s known propensity to monopolise ball-possession, Scotland would inevitably do more sprinting than strategizing. Outperforming an adept German midfield steered by Toni Kroos and Ilkay Gundogan was unlikely, but outpacing them was still an option.
In reality, Scotland barely made a dent. Kroos seized the reins almost immediately. Traditional strategies would suggest intercepting him – but the task proved challenging. Apply pressure, and he simply diverts the ball to other agile players such as Gundogan or Florian Wirtz and suddenly, Germany is exploiting the gaps in your defence. Germany was hoping Scotland would fall into this trap.
Opting for a different approach, Scotland decided to lessen the pressure and tighten their formation. This move however, enabled Kroos to locate his teammates on the flanks with 50-yard slanting passes. The crowd revelled in his initial long pass to Joshua Kimmich, acknowledging the star’s hallmark move. Kroos replicated the stunt 11 minutes into the game, except this time, Kimmich quickly transferred the ball across the Scottish penalty area, finding Wirtz prepared to meet it.
The puzzling aspects of the goal were due to Scotland’s five-man defence, as Wirtz found himself entirely alone in the D. This happened because Scotland’s attention was diverted by Kimmich on the German side, which allowed Wirtz to initiate his run from the middle of the field. The belated realisation by right wing-back Tony Ralston of Wirtz infiltrating the empty spaces left by the retreating Scottish midfielders resulted in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept the shot.
Merely nine minutes after, Kroos slipped a pass to Gundogan who swiftly turned and cascaded a skewed through-pass for Havertz who was rapidly encroaching on the left side of the penalty zone. The Arsenal striker redirected the ball towards Jamal Musiala, who outshined Callum McGregor with his refined rotation and sent the ball crashing into the top of the net.
Already within 20 minutes, both young German champions were already marked on the scoreboard. Clarke’s strategy with Gilmour had disastrously backfired. Scotland was unable to interrupt Germany’s control of the game and rarely retained possession of the ball.
Were there any hopes of alteration? Changing in the first half can be deflating for both the substituted players and the coach who must acknowledge his plans have faltered. That said, Didier Deschamps didn’t shy away from replacing both Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele in the first half after France lagged behind 2-0 against Argentina in the preceding World Cup final.
Clarke chose not to take the plunge with a premature substitution and instead swapped to a 5-3-2 formation. A penalty was granted to Germany after Musiala was sandwiched between Christie and Tierney which caused a 27-minute panic, but VAR review interceded. Both Scottish defenders appeared to have violated Musiala, however, the primary offence was committed outside the box, leading referee Turpin to grant a free-kick.
The penalty reprieve was short-lived. A coordinated German onslaught ended up with Gunn blocking Gundogan’s header, followed by James Porteous launching a two-legged lunge at the German captain as he scampered after the rebound. The result was a penalty, a red card, a goal by Havertz and a score of 3-0 just before half-time.
/”In an unfortunate turn of events reminiscent of Ireland’s disastrous performance in Euro 2012, Clarke found himself in a difficult situation. With his team 2-0 down, he seemed indecisive, and before he could act, they were 3-0 behind and at a disadvantage with one player down. The only option left for Scotland was to limit the goal difference, as it could act as a decider for third-placed teams.
Around the 62-minute mark, Nagelsmann began making substitutions aimed at conserving energy. Havertz departed, making way for Füllkrug who, within four minutes, escalated the score to 4-0 with a remarkably powerful shot. Thomas Müller then substituted for Musiala at the 75th minute, garnering applause from the Munich spectators. The Scots had just started a sombre rendition of “Flower of Scotland” when Füllkrug interrupted it with a second goal, however, it was ruled offside by VAR.
Scotland managed to retrieve one score when Rüdiger inadvertently headed the ball past his own goalie during a set-piece, but the four-goal lead was soon reinstated by Emre Can during injury time’s final minute with a 20-yard sweep into the bottom corner.
Scotland hadn’t expected to score any points in this match but also didn’t anticipate such a crushing defeat. On the other side, for Germany and the tournament overall, the start couldn’t have been any more impressive.”/