Germany vs Scotland – “You can’t win anything playing kids” – Julian Nagelsmann took his quote far too seriously. It was two youngsters, who ran riot on the pitch. Demeed as the next big stars in global football, Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala danced to their merry, running riot on the Scotting defence. At full time the score read 5-1 in favour of the German side.
For the first time in UEFA Euro has Germany played two 21-year olds. And boy has that move worked wonders for Julian Nagelsmann. Youngsters Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musial started on both the wide flanks for hosts Germany. In the very opening minute of the game, it was Wirtz who came to scoring, only to be saved by an advancing Angus Gunn.
Though Wirtz might have been slightly offside, it didn’t help Germany deviate from their initial plans of attacking from the very first minute. With Scotland defending narrowly, Germany immediately started using the wings as Musiala and Wirtz became involved in every attack of the game.
Just 10 minutes?
It took Florian Wirtz just 10 minutes to open the scoring for his side. Josua Kimmich advanced down the fight flank to set up a perfect ball to Wirtz. The Leverkusen forward danced from the right flank to the centre to take a sublime low grounder shot. Despite Anguus Gunn’s best efforts, the ball found the way back into the net as the Allianz Arena erupted in joy. And with this goal, Wirtz became the youngster scorer for Germany in any European competition.
Twice within 20 minutes
If Florian Wirtz set the stage with his opening goal, Jamal Musiala thought he is no less. The young Bayern Munich forward took it on himself to double the lead for his side. And on the 19th minute with an immaculate strike he sent the Allianz Arena erupting for the second time.
Skipper Ilkay Gundogan with a defence splitting pass found Kai Havertz at the end of the box. The Arsenal man, decided not to go all fancy and laid it off to an advancing Jamal Musiala. The youngster then settled and took his sweet time to blast the net with a thundering shot.
Just 7 minutes later, a dancing Musiala almost won his side a penalty. But after a lengthy VAR check, it was found out that the youngster was fouled just outside the box. In the dying minutes of the first half, another calamity struck for Scotland. Defender Ryan Porteous fouled Gundogan in the box with a crunching tackle.
After a lengthy VAR check, the Scottish defender was sent off and a penalty was awarded in favour of the hosts. Up stepped Kai Havertz. With ice on his veins, a short hop and he dispatched the ball, sending the Angus Gunn the wrong way. Germany effectively ran riot with their blistering speed and skill as the first half came to an end with 3-0 in favour of the hosts while Scotland being a man down.
5-Star Performance!
While Germany continued their attack in the second half, but past the hour mark, Julian Nagelsmann made a strong call. He went on to replace Florian Wirtz with ace forward Leroy Sane. Jamal Musiala too couldn’t add to his goal tally. He was subbed off in the 74th minute of the game as veteran Thomas Muller came to the field. However, Musiala was adjudged the Man of the Match for his exceptional performance.
Germany went on to score their 4th goal of the game. This was via ace forward Niclas Fullkrug. The Dortmund striker came in as a substitute and wasted little time to put his name on the scoresheet. Musiala drove the ball on the left flank to pass it on to Gundogan. The Barca midfielder’s touch landed into the foot of the Fullkrug whose first shot was a rocket into the top corner.
Fullkrug minutes later added another goal. But this time the VAR was lenient on the Scots to rule the goal as offside. At the 87th minute, Scotland managed to pull a goal back. A long free kick saw an extremely poor clearance from Germany. After quite a few scuffle Antonio Rudiger’s header found his own net, deeming it to be an own goal.
But Germany was keen to put up a 5-star show. Emre Can’s late strike in the 93rd minute, flew to the far left. Angus Gunn despite his efforts had to concede 5 goals as the hosts roared loudly in their own backyard.
