Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala became the youngest goal scorers in Germany’s EC history. The Spanish Lamine Yamal will do even better today, believes Miika Nuutinen.
European Football Championships on channels 14.6.-14.7. Go to the competition website from this link.
Forget the doubts, forget the discord – Germany is back as the champion favorite!
Or is Scotland just dull after all? The team has only beaten Gibraltar in their last ten matches. In the opening of the tournament on Friday, the host country of the EC organized a complete walkover when they crushed their guests with goals 5–1.
– This is what head coach Julian Nagelsmann has hoped for. He has been dreaming about this for months. “Such a start to the home games, with this whole team. Then we have a chance,” Urheilu’s expert Erkka V. Lehtola enthused as the biggest victory in Germany’s tournament history was achieved.
– It’s also a coach’s dream that everyone Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz – three attackers – immediately opened their goal account. It couldn’t have started better, Lehtola added later.
The match was the only one on Friday. The fan areas were full and some visitors had to be turned away at the gates. Late German legend by Franz Beckenbauer the wife brought the championship trophy to the field, and the stage was prepared for the German charm, the march of a new generation of wonder men.
Wirtz quickly relieved the pressure with a goal that made him, at 21 years and 42 days, Germany’s youngest ever scorer at the European Championships. Nine minutes later, Musiala doubled the lead. At the age of 21 years and 109 days, he is now Germany’s second youngest scorer in the European Championships.
As a perfect climax to the series that started, Havertz completed the third goal from the penalty kick even before the break. He was the previous record holder after striking three years ago at the Games at the age of 22.
– Everything about the first match went like a storybook. Nevertheless, a few question marks remained. Did Germany press well or did Scotland press badly? There is still a lot to show for how tough Germany really is, Antti Pohja appeared on the 11 friends podcast.
Wirtz and Havertz were on the field for an hour, settled the game and left to applause. The job was done, and the pressure was put aside, at least for a while. Musiala stayed on the field to start the 4–0 goal with his magical moves. When it came time for him to run into the substitution, the Munich stadium erupted almost like a goal.
– He is a winding driver. His legs are like tentacles and he is able to get the ball close to him from far away and make surprising moves even at the last moment. He makes such quick rhythm changes that if he does them well, no one can keep up. He does certain things the same as Lionel Messi – timely movements and things that promote the game, Pohja described.
Ending his career at these games Toni Kroos made 102 assists in the match, 101 of which went to his own team. The success train that ran off the rails in the last three tournaments seemed to gather new energy as the young up-and-comers enjoyed the fruits of the sure-fire experience.
– That’s what it looks like when Kroos is allowed to operate freely. There was quite a clinic standing. One false pass in the entire game. If this were a junior game, many in the stands would ask if that guy could be made to play a year or two older, spins Miika Nuutinen on the 11 friends podcast.
Friday was Germany, but only Saturday is the first actual game day of the European Championships. Switzerland and Hungary – the other two teams in Group A – face each other, while Group B, billed as the toughest of the tournament, features Spain-Croatia and Italy-Albania matches.
The most important thing of the day? The Germans’ records will be shattered immediately, reveals Nuutinen, who expects a lot from Spain’s only 16-year-old prodigy.
– Let’s write history. We get the youngest scorer in European Championship history. Lamine Yamal strikes at minute 34, Nuutinen pops.