İlkay Gündoğan led Germany to their first victory with himself as captain in the team’s 5-1 win over Scotland to open EURO 2024.
Gündogan played the full 90 and was lucky to do so given that Scotland defender Ryan Porteous’ studs connected with the skipper’s right ankle in a terrible tackle late in the first half. The Scotsman was rightfully sent off, and Germany was awarded a penalty which Kai Havertz converted without issue.
Given the nature of the challenge against Gündogan, concerns were raised over a potential injury, but the 33-year-old was captured by @iMiaSanMia explaining that everything is “All good. The ligament was not affected,” Gündogan continued, stating, “I’ve had worse.”
Injury scare aside, the former Borussia Dortmund man had a solid outing, completing 91% of his passes and winning 100% of his tackles (FotMob).
Speaking on Germany’s approach to the game, @iMiaSanMia reported the player as having stated, “We played with high intensity from the start, we played in the right spaces. We took a bit of a risk, but we were also conscious and we did it well. That’s why the 3-0 lead at half-time was deserved. I had a good feeling before the game and that turned out to be true. The start was the one we wanted.”
Germany’s risk clearly paid off, one can only hope that Nagelsmann plans just as well for the upcoming match against Hungary.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Germany’s massive EURO 2024-opening win over Scotland? Good, because the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show has you covered! We’ve got takes on Julian Nagelsmann’s lineup, the brilliance of Toni Kroos, Germany’s relentless attack, and why Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala are probably winning over a lot of new fans. You can get the podcast on Spotify or below: