Unlike certain other countries, Germany aren’t really viewed as an over-confident footballing nation – any arrogance they do possess has been well earned over the last half-century.
They have also been on the end of some mighty humblings since they won the 2014 FIFA World Cup though, dampening their most recent spirits. Euros-fever hadn’t quite swept the country ahead of this summer’s championships on home soil, despite the appointment of Julian Nagelsmann as head coach vastly improving results and performances.
Perhaps there should have been more fanfare from Germany regarding the top-line talent at their disposal. The legendary Toni Kroos will hang up his boots once his Euro 2024 is over, Florian Wirtz is a €150m man in waiting, Antonio Rudiger remains one of the world’s best defenders.
That, somehow, is before you even get to Jamal Musiala, who deserves a spot much higher on Germany’s billing, particularly after his sensational 10/10 performance on opening night.
The versatile forward began Friday’s 5-1 win against Scotland in the tournament’s curtain-raiser on the right, but effectively played wherever he pleaded. For such a meticulous tactician like Nagelsmann and in a team with the likes of Kroos and Wirtz already in it, that’s quite a privilege to be afford.
Musiala more than delivered on his end of the deal. From minute one, he sought to run at Scotland, the ball seemingly glued to his right boot with the finest adhesive in all of Munich. He kept going, and going, and going. The Tartan Army didn’t have a defence for it. How could they?
Alongside Musiala’s grace was his grit, his pirouette by his power. The ferocity of his goal, Germany’s second of a memorable night, was equal in its flair, swerving away on his tiptoes and finding a yard of separation before lashing a strike beyond the helpless Angus Gunn between the Scotland sticks.
Until his 74th-minute substitution, in which the Munich Football Arena rose to its feet and warmed him with the standing ovation he deserved, Musiala always found some way to torment Scotland, to excite Germany and to wow the neutral. At only 21, he could yet be a major figure in German football for another five or six tournaments even once this current one closes.
In many ways, Musiala is a throwback. In a pre-match VT, he claimed that he is often likened to Kaka, and that comparison certainly leapt off the screen later in the evening, such is his gracious blend…
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