Germany, host country of Euro 2024, beat Scotland 5-1 this Friday in Munichputting the finishing touch on the pitch to an exciting and festive opening day of the tournament.
Throughout the day, The fans took to the streets of the Bavarian cityand three hours before the opening whistle, the party gradually moved towards the stands of the Bayern Munich fiefdom.
Less than half an hour before the opening whistle, a colorful opening ceremony took place, after which tribute was paid to the German legend Franz Beckenbauer, who died on January 7.
His wife, Heidi Beckenbauer, presented the Henri Delaunay trophy, escorted by two other legends of German football: Bernard Dietz, captain of the ‘Mannschaft’ during Euro 1980, and Jürgen Klinsmann, who wore the bracelet in the title won in 1996. .
Read here: The historic former German soccer player Franz Beckenbauer died at the age of 78
Located in a corner of the stadium, the ‘Tartan Army’, the name of Scotland’s fans, was noted, surpassing the German public in decibels during the interpretation of the anthems. But despite the victory in the stands, Scotland was dominated on the pitch from the opening whistle, with a German team focused on the goal defended by Angus Gunn.
Arsenal’s attacking midfielder scored the third goal from the penalty spot, after a tough tackle from the Scotsman Ryan Porteous on İlkay Gündoğan will cost the Watford centre-back the expulsion.
The veteran also scored Niclas Füllkrugauthor at 31 years of age 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).
A year and two months later since the coach was abruptly fired from Bayern To the general surprise, Nagelsmann achieved his first victory in an official match with Germany, and he did so in the stadium of the German giant.
Read more: The most expensive team in the Euro Cup is worth 260 million dollars more than the highest value in the Copa América
And the victory also comes in a context of urgency for the ‘Mannschaft’, eliminated in the group stage of the last two World Cups (2018 and 2022) and defeated in the round of 16 of the last Euro Cup, in 2021.
But despite the lopsided result, the road to the round of 16 includes two ‘a priori’ more complicated matchups for Germany: Hungary, on June 19 in Stuttgart, and Switzerland, on June 23 in Frankfurt.
Scotland has it more difficultwhich has never surpassed the group stage in a European Championship or World Cup in its history.
“It’s been very disappointing, but when you play against the host country and it’s the first game… things can’t be more complicated than that.”said Scottish captain Andrew Robertson.
You may also be interested in: Colombia’s impressive streak against Bolivia before this Saturday’s friendly
A sporting curse that does not seem to intimidate his fans, who recovered their voice and the festive atmosphere in the final stretch of the match, tafter Antonio Rüdiger’s own goal (87, 4-1).
You may be interested, in video, Franz Beckenbauer, world football icon, died:
