Match Awards from Germany’s resounding 5-1 win over Scotland in EURO 2024 opener

Germany has taken the right steps so far in EURO 2024 and kicked off their campaign with a dominant 5-1 win over 10-man Scotland. Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz, Niclas Füllkrug, and Emre Can all scored, but others stood out as well. As much as every single German player deserves to be on awards, only one can be picked.

Jersey Swap: Angus Gunn

The Scottish goalkeeper was incredibly busy on the night as the barrage of German attacks came. Germany would have scored more if not for Gunn; anyone else on the Scotland team is either terrible or bang average.

Der Kaiser: Antonio Rüdiger

Own goal notwithstanding, the rather eccentric center-back was also busy snuffing out any attacks that went his way and added a bit of hilarity to his antics when defending. Nevertheless, he and Jonathan Tah stood firm in the heart of defense as Joshua Kimmich and Maximilian Mittelstädt bombed up and down the flanks.

Der Fußballgott: Toni Kroos

This is a bit tricky because there’s five players to choose from in this category. But just because he could dictate the flow of the game and gave Germany fans a taste of the good old days, the legendary Real Madrid star gets the nod here.

Der Bomber: Jamal Musiala

Bayern Munich’s “Bambi” was just having fun the whole match, bamboozling the Scots with his dribbling and compounding misery on them with his goal for the 2-0 inside 19 minutes. He also set up Niclas Füllkrug for the fourth goal.

Meister of the Match: Julian Nagelsmann

So many players were deserving of being the recipient of these awards, so it’s only fair that the man who set the team up gets credit for the job well done. It might not be a real test and Scotland may not be the best team, but it’s a good start and gives the fans a taste of what’s to come for Germany. When you look at it, the lads were playing comfortably all around and were just toying Scotland.

Can someone go and wake up Manuel Neuer from his nap and tell him it’s time to go home? Clement Turpin also looks like Marco Neppe and now you can’t unsee it.

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: