Scotland have suffered a horror start at Euro 2024 with a 5-1 thumping by Germany in the tournament’s opening match. They had a big hill to climb from early on after an opener from Florian Wirtz in the 10th minute was followed by a second from Jamal Musiala. Musiala, who had a great opening match, slammed the ball into the roof of the net to significantly dampen the spirits of the Tartan Army.

It went from bad to worse when Ryan Porteous was sent off for fouling Ilkay Gundogan in the box just before half-time – with Arsenal’s Kai Havertz converting the penalty. Manchester United legend Roy Keane savaged Scotland as being “out of their depth”, saying “the difference in quality was chalk and cheese”. “Robertson said Scotland weren’t aggressive enough – you have to be aggressive in a game of football,” said Keane on ITV.

“When you’re up against opposition who are much stronger than you, being aggressive is part of being a footballer.” Germany were equally dominant after the break and Niclas Fullkrug added another to make it 4-0. There was a sliver of consolation as an Antonio Rudiger own goal in the 87th minute gave Scotland fans a brief moment of celebration. However, Emre Can struck in stoppage time to make it 5-1 – the worst opening match defeat ever in the Euros.

It was an error-strewn showing for Scotland, who will have to vastly improve in the next matches against Hungary and Switzerland. Captain Andy Roberts called it “hugely disappointing” and admitted the team “didn’t really show up”. He said they could be angry tomorrow but must “bounce back quickly” for Wednesday’s match.

“We have to dust ourselves down, we’ve got five days to sort ourselves out and go again against Switzerland,” said Robertson. Sombre-looking manager Steve Clarke said the players were poor both with and without the ball. But he said “what we need to do is still in front of us”. Ally McCoist praised fantastic strikes by Germany’s Fulkrug and Musiala – and said Scotland needed “more belief” if they are to get anywhere in the competition.

Courtesy: Sky News