New Delhi: Germany started their UEFA Nations League 2024/25 campaign in dominant fashion as they beat Hungary 5-0 at home in Dusseldorf, inside the Merkur Spiel-Arena. This was the second meeting between the two teams in a span of two and a half months as the two were drawn together in the same group in UEFA Euro 2024, which the home team hosted. Germany were coming into the match following the retirement of senior players like Ilkay Gundogan, Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller and needed their young core to step up. And step up they did.
Germany got the game underway in the first half and proceeded to dominate the entire proceedings of the half. Hungary began the match looking hungry for a win and the first attack of the match went in their favour but they couldn’t muster a proper shot out of it. Minutes later, it was Germany’s chance to attack and they almost went ahead from the first corner of the match.
Jonathan Tah rose highest to the corner delivery and his looping header had to be cleared off the line by Hungarian captain Dominik Szoboszlai to keep the game level. Germany dominated the ball in the first half but Hungary looked good whenever they found an opportunity to attack. The hosts should’ve gone up in the 19th minute when they had a three-on-two situation in front of goal but a poor shot from Niklas Fullkrug was saved well by Peter Gulasci.
The hosts didn’t have to wait long for their opening goal after that attempt as Fullkrug made up for his earlier miss as he finished off a good team move to give his side the lead. Florian Writz dinks a cross from the right towards David Raum on the far post who teed up Jamal Musiala and he sets up Fullkrug perfectly for a close-range finish. Finally, for all the dominance they showed, Germany had a goal to show for it now.
Niclas Fullkrug & Jamal Musiala #GERHUN pic.twitter.com/x8EWg3hyQY
— SM ⁴ᴷ (@4KSMHQ) September 7, 2024
The scoreline remained the same as the half ended but they should’ve easily been two or three ahead as Kai Havertz failed to score from two glorious opportunities after the first goal. The first of these came five minutes after the goal as Musiala cut the ball to Raum whose cross found Havertz in the box but he could only hit the bar with his header and the ball bounced just in front of the line.
The second big opportunity fell to the Arsenal man right at the stroke of half-time when a delightful pass from Musiala split the midfield and defence on its way to Havertz. He took the ball in his stride and went up to the penalty box before shuffling the ball onto his favoured left foot but couldn’t wrap his foot quite enough on the ball and failed to hit the target and increase his side’s advantage.
The second half started a little slow for the hosts as Hungary started as the better team. The visitors were looking dangerous and went very close to getting an equalizer only to be denied a fantastic last-ditch challenge by Robert Andrich. The resulting corner, however, changed things for both sides. The corner was easily cleared by the first man and that allowed the Germans to start a counter-attack of their own.
It was the two German wunderkinder who combined for the counter-attack and gave Germany its second goal. Wirtz sent Musiala through with a pinpoint through ball and Musiala ran away from the Hungarian defenders, before avoiding the two defenders trying to knick the ball in the penalty box and producing a neat finish past Gulasci. The two of them combined once again ten minutes later in the 66th minute to make it 3-0.
This time it was Musiala’s turn to be the provider and his neat pass from the left flank found Wirtz inside the box. He fired a low shot at goal and the pace of the shot gave Gulasci no chance to stop it. The onslaught didn’t stop there for Hungary as Havertz went close to scoring once again but his volley hit the crossbar again and came out on the other side of the goal-line. The hosts did manage to make it 4-0 later and it was another youngster who got in on the act.
⚽ Musiala
⚽ Wirtz
😮💨 Germany have some special talent at their disposal…#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/4Bl34F9x9K
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) September 7, 2024
Alexander Pavlovic came on for Pascal Gross in the 60th minute and got himself on the scoresheet just 17 minutes later. The Bayern Munich youngster, who was supposed to be a part of Germany’s UEFA Euro 2024 before injury ruled him out, combined with his club teammate Musiala and finished with a powerful shot from close range to get his first goal for his country.
Kai Havertz ultimately managed to get himself on the scoresheet four minutes after Pavlovic’s goal after he was fouled inside the box by Willi Orban. A clumsy challenge from him gifted Germany a penalty which Havertz stepped up to take. He did his trademark stuttered run-up to send Gulasci the wrong way and finally managed the get the goal that eluded him all night. A stunning display from Julien Nagelsmann’s side displayed that the future of this German team is in safe hands.
Player of the Match
Jamal Musiala was at the forefront of every attack Germany made. (Photo by Jürgen Fromme – firo sportphoto/Getty Images)
When someone plays a part in four of their team’s five goals, it’s hard to look away from them for this title and that is exactly the case with Jamal Musiala. The Bayern Munich man was on top form throughout the match and his link-up with fellow youngster Florian Wirtz was integral to Germany’s dominant victory. Every goal that Germany scored from open play tonight was because of Musiala as he scored one and assisted the other three.
The 21-year-old started the onslaught after he set up Fullkrug with a beautiful pass in front of goal to open the floodgates. He then added the second himself before setting up both Wirtz and Pavlovic for their goals. A stunning display saw him complete 46 of his 52 passes, keeping a pass accuracy of 88% throughout the match. He created seven chances in the game, more than any other player on the pitch.
Musiala also got 71 touches of the ball and got six of them inside the penalty box, two of which resulted in assists for him. He helped out defensively as well, making four defensive actions as well as six recoveries throughout the game and also won 9 of his 14 duels. An all-round performance from the attacking midfielder helped his side dominate the game from start to finish.
Germany started their hunt for a first major trophy in ten years with a thumping win over Hungary. Goals from Niklas Fullkrug, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Pavlovic and Kai Havertz saw them run out as 5-0 winners at home. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
