Wirtz and Musiala broke out, and Germany's European Championship made history, ending a three-game losing streak in the first game of the tournament

Zhou Jiahua

2024-06-15 05:42Posted in Hunan Sports Creator

In the opening match of Euro 2024, the host Germany played against the "tartan army" Scotland. In the past three tournaments, the Germans have lost all three of their first games (2018 World Cup, Germany 0-1 Mexico; Euro 2020, Germany 0-1 France; 2022 World Cup, Germany 1-2 Japan), this time sitting at the Allianz Stadium, the "twin stars" Wirtz and Musiala flew together to help Germany beat Scotland 5-1 and get off to a good start.

Musiala and Wirtz

In the 2023/24 season, Wirtz made 49 appearances in all competitions, scoring 18 goals and providing 20 assists, and was named Bundesliga Player of the Season. Although he did not score anything in the team championship, Musiala, who is also 21 years old, also has 12 goals and eight assists in his account.

The emergence of the 'twin stars' is a source of anticipation for German fans, and in Wirtz's opinion, he and Musiala can coexist in perfect harmony: "We are the same age, we have the same hobbies, we have a lot of ideas about the game and we are always looking for solutions. We all want to win and we know what each other wants, so I'm sure we can work together really well. ”

Musiala and Wirtz

In this game, Germany coach Nagelsmann lined up a 4-2-3-1 starting line-up, with Andrich and Kroos in the middle, Wirtz and Musiala on each side, and Gundogan taking the ball in the number 10 position. Less than a minute into the opening period, Rudiger made a long pass from the backfield, and Wirtz chested a diagonal ball into the penalty area, but unfortunately the kick at the goal was not good and was defused by goalkeeper Gunn.

Musiala

Fortunately, Wirz's goal did not wait long, in the 11th minute, Kroos's long pass was transferred, Kimmich crossed on the right, Wirtz pushed the shot, Gunn made a save, the ball hit the inside of the post and bounced into the net, Germany led 1-0.

Wirtz became the youngest player to score at the European Championship at 21 years and 42 days, and only the third German player to score the first goal at the tournament after Gerd Müller in 1972 and Rummenigge in 1980.

Nine minutes later, Musiala, who was 21 years old and 109 days old, also scored - Gundogan slashed into the penalty area, Havertz knocked back, Musiala shook off the defense and volleyed with his right foot into the net, giving Germany a 2-0 lead. Germany also became the first team in the history of the European Championships to score two Under-22s in the same goal. Kai Havertz then fired a shot into the net to give Germany a 3-0 lead.

In the second half, the German "twin stars" still had a chance to score, and in the 58th minute, Musiala returned the bottom line, Mittelstedt rubbed it back, and Wirtz volleyed high. In the 63rd minute, Nagelsmann replaced Wirtz with Leroy Sane, and the German fans gave him a round of applause.

In the 74th minute, Nagelsmann replaced Musiala with Muller, and since then, the "twin stars" have all been replaced. Substitutes Phil Krueger and Emre Can also scored their own goals.

After the game, the authoritative data website "sofascore" gave Wirtz and Musiala high scores of 7.5 and 7.9 respectively, and the UEFA official award: the best player of the match was awarded to Musiala.

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