“The banter era”, as the internet slang goes, didn’t last that long for Germany after all!
Julian Nagelsmann has brought the Germans front and centre of the footballing world after consecutive periods of failure under Joachim Low on his last legs followed by Hansi Flick.
Just a statement performance was needed to mark that turnaround and it arrived in their opening game of the Euros.
Powered by their new core of emerging superstars, they brushed aside Scotland 5-1, firmly adding their name to the list of favourites for the trophy, a conversation they had been somewhat of an outsider in.
Portugal became the popular pick, France are always on the scene, Spain have pedigree while England’s individual talent is breathtaking.
However, with this win, Germany have announced that they are as formidable a threat as any and could be coming back to reclaim their crown of being international kings since they haven’t really matched up to expectations since the 2017 Confederation Cup victory.
Florian blooming
Florian Wirtz came into this tournament on the back of a memorable season with Bayer Leverkusen. He was at the heart of a perfect attacking unit that led Xabi Alonso’s side to unbeaten Bundesliga glory.
The only question on him was how much of his performances were down to being the beneficiary of an exemplary tactical system instilled by Alonso and how much of it was his own mercurial talent.
If the first game at the tournament was any indication, it was more of the latter than the former.
He became the youngest scorer at the Euros for Germany and the way he dovetailed with his teammates spoke about a player who has the world at his feet.
Nagelsmann has found the winning formula to get his prodigies playing together and Jamal Musiala’s performance alongside Wirtz bodes well for Germany’s chances going forward.
