By: Jingwei Zhao

The opening match of the 2024 Euro cup ended in tragedy for Scotland as they lost to Germany in a brutal 5-1 defeat. Scottish fans entered the game full of hope, as they desperately wanted to see their country beat powerhouse Germany. However, that hope evaporated in only the first ten minutes of the match when Florian Wirtz put the ball into the back of the Scottish net. Adding salt in the wound, Jamal Musiala, playing for Germany, increased their lead by two in the 20-minute mark.

At the end of the first half, Scottland’s Porteous committed a bad tackle and was sent off the field, leading to a penalty for Germany scored by Kai Havertz. Going into the second half, the score was 3-0 to Germany. In the 67th minute, a beautiful strike into the top corner of the goal by Germany’s Niclas Fullkrug brought the score up even higher to 4-0. Fullkrug almost got another goal eight minutes later but he was ruled offsides.

In the 87th minute, Scotland was awarded a free kick. When Scott McKenna crossed it in, the ball hit a few heads and eventually was deflected off of Germany’s Antonio Rudiger into the goal, giving Scotland their first and only goal this match. This miracle of a goal led to cheers from the Scottish fans. However, to wrap the game up, Germany’s Emre Can scored in the 92nd minute, sealing Scotland’s fate in a huge 5-1 loss. This match marked Germany’s biggest win ever at the Euros. As Scotland lost their first match and Germany won theirs, we can expect Scotland working on themselves and Germany winning even more matches.