Gritty Scotland give themselves a chance of making history with progress to knockouts still a possibility after outperforming Switzerland, writes IAN HERBERT
By lunchtime, the Tartan Army had gathered on the steps of Cologne’s monumental cathedral, singing ‘No Scotland, No Party.’ The joke was that entering such a vast place to pray would be futile, as it couldn’t contain the help Scotland needed.
As they made their way towards Innenstadt and the stadium, the sun came out, and well before kick-off, the supreme, infectious Scottish optimism returned. Even those too young to remember were being emphatically reminded about the Boys of ’96.
After the opening whistle, the match took place with excitement and high speed. In the 13th minute, Scotland opened the scoring after a quick counter-attack. Receiving a return pass from Callum McGregor, midfielder Scott McTominay shot quickly with his left foot. The ball hit a Swiss player’s foot and flew into the net, leaving goalkeeper Yann Sommer helpless.
Receiving a bucket of cold water, Switzerland pushed forward strongly. In the 26th minute, defender Anthony Ralston made a fatal mistake with a pass straight into Xherdan Shaqiri’s feet. This veteran immediately shot with his left foot from outside the penalty area, creating a masterpiece that hit the roof of the Scottish net to equalize 1-1.
In the following period, the match was tense and this continued into the second half. However, towards the end of the match, Switzerland increased the pressure to find the winning goal. They almost got it if Grant Hanley’s header wasn’t denied by the post.
In the end, Scotland drew a dramatic 1-1 with Switzerland. This result makes Switzerland unable to follow Germany into the 1/8 round of EURO 2024 . At this time, Switzerland is ranked 2nd with 4 points after 2 matches, and Scotland is ranked 3rd.
In the final match, Switzerland will meet Germany and Scotland will face Hungary. Both matches will take place at 2:00 a.m. on June 24.
The new layout made Hungary play brighter than in the first leg and Varga even almost scored after just 13 seconds after Germany ‘s superficial kick and Kimmich’s error covering the ball. Both sides responded quite harshly, in which Havertz had a clear chance in the 11th minute but his volley hit goalkeeper Gulacsi.
However, Hungary’s moment of not listening to the whistle caused them to concede. In the 22nd minute, Orban cut off Musiala’s shot to Gundogan but then fell out. The Hungarian defenders thought Orban was fouled, but Gundogan ran on to get the ball before releasing it for Musiala to open the score. The loss caused Hungary to fight back and in the 26th minute Szobozslai’s free kick was blocked by a flying Neuer.
Realizing Hungary’s ability to deploy, coach Nagelsmann pushed the German team forward to proactively apply pressure to reduce the pressure on the defense. Until the end of the first half, Germany pressed the field continuously and had many corners, but before the end of the half they were startled when Sallai headed the ball into Germany’s net with a free kick in the 45+2 minute, but Orban was caught by the referee. for the previous touch and Germany led 1-0 at the break.
In the second half, although Germany maintained pressure on the field, they still had nervous moments, including Varga’s header over the bar in the 60th minute. The worries finally ended, in the 67th minute, the Mittelstadt left-back rose high to welcome them. Musiala’s pass before crossing to Gundogan, who reacted very quickly to cross into the penalty area and slot into the far corner to increase the score to 2-0 for the home team.
The relaxed playing mentality caused the German players to compete with each other to shoot, but goalkeeper Gulacsi denied Kimmich and reserve Sane opportunities. In the 90th minute, Hungary almost shortened the score to 1-2 after Neuer dropped the ball from a jump to catch a cross, but Kimmich saved on the goal line to deny Gazdag a volley. That was also the last ball of the match and the German team, with a 2-0 victory, won a ticket to the 1/8 round.
