Sometimes, you have to hit rock bottom and dive into the darkest depths to recognize yourself, rearm yourself, and come out stronger. Germany knew how to be the unbeatable team – suffered so many times by the Argentine National Team– until collapsing to become the one who eliminated in the first round of the last two World Cups. But the resurrection of the Mannschaft It began this Friday, at home and in the opening match of the Euro Cup, the one that he won three times but has not won since 1996, precisely the year of his last participation. Scotlandthe rival he beat with a 5-1 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
“Germany needs to recover the aura that it almost always had between 2006 and 2014,” he had warned. Julian Nagelsmannthe coach who took the reins after a painful and short cycle of Hansi Flickthe coach who took over after the longest process of a coach in the German team, that of Joachim Löw’s 15 years that ended with the elimination in the round of 16 of Euro 2021 at the hands of runners-up England.
Supported by the great present of local football, Nagelsman put together a base with players from the finalist of the Champions League, Borussia Dortmundand the champion of the Bundesliga and of the German Cupin addition to runner-up of the Europa League, Bayer Leverkusenfrom where he got Florian Wirtz. The 21-year-old forward Jamal Musialathe other Sub 23 but from the ranks of the Bayern Munichare the faces of this renewed Germany, to which are added Kai Havertz, only three years older. In fact, two of the three goals that closed the first stage came through Musiala and Havertz.
But This resurgence is not just due to young blood. Germany enjoys Toni Kroos’s last gamesthe total player, the one who can position himself as the last man, centralize the game to generate spaces and also turn your booty into a glove to put the ball where and to whomever you want -he made 101 passes out of 102-. This is how the first goal came, when there were only 10 minutes left. After a series of short touches, the 34-year-old midfielder who retired from Real Madrid after winning the recent Champions League made – despite slipping – the perfect change of front at the foot of a solitary Joshua Kimmich, who took advantage of the space on the right. and focused for Florian Wirtzwho with a close shot to Angus Gunn’s right post converted despite the fact that the goalkeeper touched the ball.
The statistics of the first quarter of an hour made the German game clear: more than 70% possession and 170 passes (against 47 for Scotland). And while Kroos is the brain that allows that game, so is the team’s other experienced player, Ikay Gundogan. From their union, precisely, the second goal originated, which Havertz and Musiala, the great figure on the field and author of the 2 to 0 after letting a rival pass with his hitch and taking a high shot that was impossible to stop.
The German football party stopped for just a minute when the VAR intervened to annul the penalty that referee Clément Turpin had charged Musiala for an infringement carried out outside the area. But he reappeared to give the home team the penalty they deserved, when in the 41st minute a shot from Porteous on Gundogan It led to the expulsion of the Scot and the maximum penalty that Havertz took with his foot wide open while the goalkeeper was waiting for a cross left footed shot.
Far from keeping their figures on the field for 90 minutes, Nagelsmann quickly took out Havertz (17′), Wirtz (17′) and Musiala (28′)who six minutes earlier scored with a PlayStation play for 4-0, which defined the entry Niclas Füllkrug. The biggest ovation later went to Kroos, who described a game as one of the last in a fruitful career that he dreams of concluding with his first European Championship.
Without him on the court, for the end, Rudiger’s discount was against to please the noisy Scottish public and also the fifth German goal, from Emre Can, the last of those called up to reflect the German dominance from start to finish.
