Scotland put on alert as Havertz says Germans have hit stride
Forward confident for Euros after Kroos- inspired away win over French
ARSENAL ace Kai Havertz issued an ominous warning ahead of Germany’s Euro 2024 opener against Scotland... they have rediscovered the fun of football. After Scotland were handed a lesson in finishing by the Dutch on Friday, Germany made a stunning statement of intent in Lyon.
Written off, even by their own fans and pundits, the four- times World Cup winners and three- times European Championship winners were out to prove a point.
And the return of Real Madrid legend Toni Kroos sparked them into life in a hugely impressive 2- 0 win in the backyard of Euro 2024 favourites France.
It is doubtful Steve Clarke ever believed the information coming out of Germany that they were a shadow of their former selves and were going through a transitional period.
But if he did, this masterclass at the Groupama Arena showed just how incredibly tough it will be for his Scots to get off to a good start in Munich on June 14.
After 2023 where they had won just three out of 11 games and lost their last two matches against Austria and Turkey, manager Julian Nagelsmann made big changes.
His biggest call was to bring back 34- year- old Kroos out of international retirement after three years and he made his impact felt immediately when Germany scored their fastest international goal through a prerehearsed move from kick- off when he gave an assist with his first touch to Florian Wirtz.
Gunners star Havertz added the second at the start of the second half, but this was no backs- against- the- wall display by the Germans.
They bossed the French and could easily have scored five goals. They were quick on the counter, highly comfortable in possession and looked solid at the back.
It was just the news Scotland would not want to hear.
Havertz said: “Yes, that was a lot of fun. I think we controlled the game well, especially in the second half. We had one or two good chances to score and are of course happy to win against such a strong opponent.
“We don’t have long until the opening game against Scotland, so I think it was extremely important that every player knows his role in the team.
“I enjoyed being in this team. We were comfortable on the ball. Nobody
hid. Everyone wanted the ball. I think that made it extremely easy for us to get in behind the French,
“And of course, it’s nice to score too. I’m just happy to be able to play football with the boys. We have so much quality. When you see what’s behind me, it’s amazing.”
Kroos made an enormous difference to Germany, with Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala also excellent and he was even applauded by the home fans when he ran his race and was subbed in the second half.
And he admitted this was a big result for the Euro hosts.
He said: “We have to be very satisfied after that. I think that we have made a good step forward, an important step forward.
“The Euros are fast approaching and I think we needed a result like this.
“Look, a lot of things have changed
since I last played international football. I think it was a bit of a question of whether these changes that we made could work so quickly.
“We had a really good week of training, but we’ve often heard that the week of training before the game
was good and then it didn’t work out so well. But we were able to take that into the game really well.
“The goal straight from kick- off was planned and something we had worked on in training.
“We had a young team, but you look at guys like Maxi Middelstedt, who made his debut at a place like this and was excellent.
“We have to be delighted with this.”
And Kroos’ holding midfield partner Robert Andrich believes they now have an understanding after the Bayer Leverkusen starlet won just his second cap.
He said: “I still have to work on developing a complete understanding of playing next to someone as good as Toni Kroos.
“But I am getting there and you have to say that was pretty good there.”
I’m just happy to be able to play football with the boys. We have so much quality. When you see what’s behind me, it’s amazing