Kickoff chronicles

Germany vs Scotland

After months of anticipation and counting down, the European Championship finals were finally set, with the opening game of Germany and Scotland ready to kick off in the great city of Munich. The hosts got off to the perfect start when wonderkid Florian Writz found the opener inside 10 minutes. Joshua Kimmich played a ball across the Scottish penalty area where Writz placed his side footed finish into the far corner. Germany then managed to double their advantage inside 20 minutes when arguably the best player on the pitch so far found the back of the Scottish net. Ilkay Gundogan released Kai Havertz into the penalty area where the striker opted not to shoot. He cut it back to Jamal Musiala whose tricky feet were too much for the Scottish defenders before his bullet finish found the roof of the net. 2 became 3 just before the interval when the hosts were awarded a penalty after Ryan Porteous delivered a nasty two footed challenge on Gundogan resulting in a red card for his horrible lunging challenge. Havertz stepped up to take the spot kick and capped off a dominant first half display from the Germans when he buried the penalty. The half finished 3-0 with Scotland down to 10 men and left with no way back into the game.

2nd half substitute, Niclas Fulkrug, was the first German player to score in the second period after a ball was not properly cleared from inside the Scottish penalty area. Fulkrug took a touch and lashed the ball into the top right corner, the best of the bunch. He thought he had made it a brace 8 minutes later when he scored in the 75th minute but it was chalked out for offside. Scotland gave their fans something to cheer about in the 87th minute when Antonio Rudiger gifted them an own goal. The defender was unlucky when Scott McKenna headed Andy Robertson’s free kick across the 6 yard area. Rudiger glanced his head upwards, watching the ball change path and lob keeper Manuel Neuer. The hosts had the last laugh though as Emre Can scored with the last kick of the game. It was a well developed 5th goal, the Germans playing a string of passes around Scotland’s penalty area before pulling the trigger. Thomas Muller cut the ball back out to Can who took a touch and curled the ball into the bottom right corner perfectly. The game finished 5-1 with Germany putting out a potential title statement early on here in the competition. Scotland will be heavily deflated but know they will need to get over this loss before they play Hungary on Tuesday. 

Written By Ollie Wade