Disasters are followed by victory
DFB team celebrates a dream start to the European Championship year with a record goal
March 23, 2024, 10:51 p.m
The German national soccer team made a convincing start to the European Championship year: the DFB team won 2-0 against runner-up world champions France. Florian Wirtz takes the lead after just eight seconds. It is the fastest goal in German international history.
That finally makes you want to go to the European Championships: After Florian Wirtz’s record goal, the national soccer team not only stunned the big title favorites France with their best performance in years. The 2-0 (1-0) was the first German victory in France in more than eleven years and a powerful boost for the home tournament in just under three months. Julian Nagelsmann’s radical changes worked immediately. The national coach goes into the hot European Championship countdown as the big winner of the evening. The disillusioning last international matches against Turkey (2:3) and Austria (0:2) have not been forgotten, but they have been repaired in parts.
After seven seconds, Wirtz scored the fastest goal in German international history, assisted by the outstanding DFB returnee Toni Kroos. Kai Havertz (49th) scored early in the second half after a wonderful combination from young stars Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. With great concentration and great team spirit, the Équipe Tricolore football machine around superstar Kylian Mbappé was stopped.
A stroke of genius ensures a dream start
The next endurance test is coming up on Tuesday. Then arch-rivals Netherlands come to Frankfurt, having just defeated Germany’s opening European Championship opponents Scotland 4-0. Nagelsmann will then consistently continue his new line.
The national coach kept making notes about his greatly changed selection in a small block on the sidelines. The national coach cheered Wirtz’s stroke of genius with an energetic look – his “We’ll kick” instruction at the beginning could hardly have been implemented better. From the kick-off, the ball came to Leverkusen, who scored a fantastic first goal of the European Championship year from 20 meters – and a blink of an eye faster than the previous record holder Lukas Podolski eleven years ago against Ecuador.
In front of 1,000 German fans traveling with them, the early goal helped the DFB team achieve stability and security that was previously hardly thought possible. With the returnee Kroos setting the pace in midfield, the effort and especially the concentration were right in the first half. Debutant Maximilian Mittelstädt started as a left-back as if he had already had several international matches behind him.
“Magicians” deliver
European Championship favorite France first had to find their way back into the game – Nagelsmann would have liked that alone. Shortly before kick-off, the 36-year-old said on ZDF that his team should act “not like a rabbit in front of a snake” and with a “willingness to take risks”. In the extremely disappointing November defeats in Berlin against Turkey (2:3) and in Vienna against Austria (0:2), the national coach’s self-image was far from being reflected in the team.
Marc-André ter Stegen, who represented the injured European Championship goalkeeper Manuel Neuer again, defused the vice world champion’s first good chance through star player Kylian Mbappé with a strong hand save (25th). The DFB selection blocked the following attempts at advances with their combined strength. The offensive line with captain Ilkay Gündogan, Wirtz and Musiala, which Nagelsmann elevated to “three magicians”, also worked defensively in the truest sense of the word. Musiala’s first noticeable scene was a save in his own half.
But as we all know, the people of Munich can do things differently. The 21-year-old perfectly prepared Havertz’s second German goal by beating France goalkeeper Brice Samba. Wirtz had played the strong long pass to Musiala. France was surprised again, and Nagelsmann, whose contract expires after the European Championships will be discussed after the international match against the Netherlands, applauded.
Nagelsmann provides plenty of debuts
After almost an hour, loud whistles could be heard in the stadium, and the French had only resorted to individual actions, such as the shot from former Dortmund player Ousmane Dembélé (54′). Nagelsmann received the first yellow card of the game in this phase, as he complained too loudly about a referee’s decision (60′). His coaching colleague Didier Deschamps seemed fundamentally dissatisfied and replaced four professionals after an hour.
Nagelsmann, on the other hand, gave his team more minutes to play. Musiala, Wirtz, Gündogan and Havertz tried combinations again and again. Behind them, Kroos and, above all, the strong Leverkusen player Robert Andrich provided protection. In the 72nd minute, Chris took the lead in his second international match and veteran Thomas Müller came into the game. Mittelstädt narrowly missed his debut goal with a low shot (79th), before Deniz Undav came on a little later as the second debutant of the evening (80th).
The Stuttgart player, Müller and Niclas Füllkrug, who was also substituted, had further chances to score the third goal in the final phase. At the back, Antonio Rüdiger saved from the line shortly before the end (88th), and Waldemar Anton also celebrated his DFB debut (90th).