14 June 2024 , 21:26
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When Jamal Musiala’s rocket effectively settled this contest inside 20 minutes, the entire roster of German substitutes stood in an orderly line and applauded.
No wonder. It was a magnificent strike. But it was not just Musiala’s goal - Germany’s second - that deserved acclaim, it was the entire performance.
Yes, Scotland were hugely disappointing - almost embarrassing, to be honest - but, in many ways, this was a big statement from the hosts, this was a marker.
And being tournament-savvy, it was almost as though they played within themselves as soon as they had secured a two-goal advantage. Sure, they inflicted plenty of added misery on Scotland and manager Steve Clarke but there is a lot more to come from this German team.
Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere inside the Allianz Arena was spine-tingling but while there were some truly fired-up people in the stands, none were a match for Andy Robertson. But it goes without saying that these febrile, landmark occasions demand cool heads - and those heads belonged exclusively to Germans.
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From Clement Turpin’s first whistle, there was an eye-catching composure about Julian Nagelsmann’s team and the neatness of passing paid dividends after ten minutes. It was a simple but sweet move and keeper Angus Gunn might have done a lot better when trying to push away the Florian Wirtz strike but the surgical assist from Joshua Kimmich was typical of the home nation’s work on opening night.
If Gunn was culpable for the first, he barely saw the second as Musiala’s hit fizzed past him at bullet speed. There was clever hold-up play from Kai Havertz but the goal was all about the feint and the finish from the talent that played twice for England under-21s.
Jamal Musiala of Germany scores a goal to make it 2-0 (James Baylis)Gareth Southgate was philosophical when that talent opted for Germany but there is no doubt Musiala was one that got away for England. Not that he was the only one to cause the hapless Scots trouble - most of the Germans did exactly that.
And just to make life more difficult, an utterly reckless, brutal challenge from Ryan Porteous on Ilkay Gundogan just before the break not only left Scotland with ten men but left them three down after Havertz had converted the resulting penalty.
The only shock relating to that incident was that Turpin needed to be told to go and watch the video nasty by VAR. You could almost see him wince at the video evidence.
Considering Scotland had barely been able to get a touch with eleven men, their only task with ten was to avert record-breaking humiliation. To Scotland’s credit, they defended vigorously in the second half, conceding only a fearsome Niclas Fullkrug strike and also an Emre Can hit after collecting a consolation courtesy of an Antonio Rudiger own goal.
And, of course, this was a game that had almost been written off by most fans. But it was still demoralising, it will still take some coming back from.
It was a night to forget for the Scots but it was a night when we all remembered how good the Germans can be.
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