Well, it’s fair to say that Scotland couldn’t have made a much worse start to Euro 2024, going down 5-1 to Germany in the tournament opener in Munich.
Steve Clarke’s side were utterly outclassed by the hosts, not helped by an element of implosion on their part as Ryan Porteous was a shown a straight red card for a horrific tackle on German captain Ilkay Gundogan. Antonio Rudiger’s late own goal gave the hordes of Scottish fans – who had been in such high spirits in the lead-up to this game – something to cheer about, but it was a night of near total misery for the Tartan Army.
After this humbling at the hands of the three-time European champions, can Scotland bounce back? And what do they need from their remaining two group games to reach the last 16 of Euro 2024?
Scotland have it all to do at Euro 2024
Can Steve Clarke rally his troops to bounce back against Switzerland? (Image credit: Alamy)
Few expected Scotland to take anything from the clash with Germany, but the limp manner of their defeat leaves them with a mental mountain to climb as much as anything. In the words of former Celtic striker Chris Sutton, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, the Scots “froze” – and the stats back up that assertion: Germany posted 20 shots to Scotland’s 1, registering 2.17 expected goals (xG) to Scotland’s 0.01. Absolute domination.
Lose to Switzerland in their next Group A match on Wednesday and it may not be tournament mathematically over – three points could be enough to go through, with the four best third-placed teams advancing to the knockout stage – but with their confidence already surely having taken a massive hit, one senses Scotland need something from that encounter.
A point against the Swiss ought to keep Clarke and co’s Euro 2024 campaign alive heading into their third and final group fixture against Hungary, as they aim to do what no previous Scotland team has ever managed: make it out of the group stage of a major tournament.
Scotland do a ‘reverse England’
Michael Owen scored a hat-trick as England famously thrashed Germany 5-1 in Munich in 2001 (Image credit: Alamy)
Scotland’s 5-1 thrashing by Germany came 23 years after England – traditional rivals for both nations – famously won 5-1 against the same opposition in the same city.
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This was also the first time that the Scots had shipped five goals in a single game since losing 5-1 to the USA in a friendly in May 2012.
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