06/14/2024
Until now, the biggest wins that Germany had achieved in the Euro Cup there had been three 3-0 results in the 1972, 1996 and 2016 editions.
Those victories had been achieved against the Soviet Union, Russia and Slovakia, respectively, Therefore, the 5-1 against Scotland became the biggest win in history.
Taking advantage of their status as hosts, the Germans were inspired and started with a win on the opening day of the tournament.
A duo that could take Germany very high, the talented Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, both 21 years old, who embody the resurgence of the Mannschaft, a nickname that has been used by the German Football Federation since 2015a year after the title achieved in the Brazil World Cup 2014.
According to the German federation, Mannschaft, it embodies values such as creativity, strength, respect and fair play.
It must be remembered that, among Germany’s top scorers in the Euro Cup are Lothar Matthäus, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski, all with four goals and four European tournaments played, between 1980 and 2016.
Wirtz, one of the sensations of the season in the Bundesliga, only took 10 minutes to score the first goal of the championship, bringing the Munich Arena to its feet with a goal that makes him the youngest German scorer to score in a European Championship at the 21 years.
The Bayer Leverkusen player first executed a pass from Joshua Kimmich to put the ‘Mannschaft’ ahead, leaving the festive Scotland fans speechless.
Musiala, also 21 years old, extended the lead 9 minutes later, assisted by Kai Havertz.
Arsenal’s attacking midfielder scored the third goal from the penalty spot, after a harsh challenge by Scotsman Ryan Porteous on Ilkay Gundogan cost the Watford centre-back the expulsion.
Veteran Niclas Füllkrug also scored, the 31-year-old author of Germany’s fourth (68), after a great collective action in the rival area.
Another of the veterans, the eternal Toni Kroos, led his team’s game from the center of the field, in what will be his last tournament before hanging up his boots. The midfielder was applauded by the entire stadium when he was replaced in the second half (80) by Emre Can, scorer of the fifth (90+3, 5-1).
