Mats Hummels did not envision his first competitive game since his return to the DFB. His own goal decided the match against world champions France in the 20th minute.
France – Germany: This is how the game went
game coming soon
From the outset, the German, who had considerable possession of the ball, had little room to advance in the game in the last third. French, meanwhile, stood behind the ball and played quickly and straight in the direction of Manuel Neuer. And so, after a good quarter of an hour, they had two good opportunities through Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe. A few minutes later, however, Neuer was beaten – by his own defender. Bayern player Lucas Hernandez, from whom his club colleague Joshua Kimmich could not pull the ball away, chased the ball into the goal area from the left, and returnee Matt Hummels involuntarily twisted his shin.
After that, the French retreated and Thomas Müller and Ilke Gundogan had few opportunities to equalize. But overall, the world champions looked more dangerous due to their fast switching game, while the DFB team was good but not good enough.
Nothing changed in this picture at the beginning of the second half. Les Blaes had room behind the defensive line and into the penalty area. It was also after a good 50 minutes, when Adrian Rabbot broke into the box and put the ball against the left post from an acute angle.
But now the best phase for the Germans began, with the highest-ranking opportunity ever for Jogi Lo’s troops. After a cross from Robin Gosens, Serge Gnabry volleyed the ball, the ball came up and then brushed the crossbar. Now 14,000 fans were thrilled at the grounds of Munich. And there was relief when Mbappe scored a world-class goal in the 65th minute when it was denied due to an offside position. A similar situation happened five minutes before the end when Karim Benzema also scored an offside goal. But the Germans could not make use of the fortune of the hour or at least six stoppage minutes, despite the fighting, it ended with an early defeat.
Star of the game: Paul Pogba (France)
“Excellent with the ball, covered in goal with a great pass behind the German defense. Always had a substitute and catches the ball. Most important player in central midfield. Always goes ahead and comes back to help Kante. A really good performance with and without the ball.”
Stefan Freund, UEFA Technical Supervisor
David Crossan, Reporter France
Didier Deschamps will be satisfied with the early victories and defensive commitment of his star-studded strikers. In fact, each line of the team played with intelligence and discipline, and Les Blaes were unlucky not to win higher, given Rabiot’s goal and two “goals” at the post. Karim Benzema’s talks with Mbappe were very promising, with world champions going into the second game against Hungary with a lot of confidence.
Phil Rober, Reporter Germany
The first half of the German team was actually very positive: DFB-Elf took the initiative more often and showed good combinations – even after falling behind. But the last third was mostly a restricted area. There was already some dangerous action in the second half, but the French had better chances.
reactions
ZDF. France coach Didier Deschamps in an interview with: “A great game against a very good opponent, a strong German team. I knew my players would be ready, and we were too. We would have done a little more in the first half. It was a high quality game. It was our first. The match was a big game. It could have been a semi-final or a final. But three points, even if they are not decisive, will be very important.”
Paul Pogba, France midfielder, interviewed ZDF: “It’s the start of Euros and it’s definitely good to start with three points. After all, we played against Germany – a strong team. They put us under pressure again and again, we stayed against it and absolutely it wanted to win.”
Jogi Lo, National Coach, ZDF. in an interview with: “I think it was a brutally intense game and we threw everything in the balance. We fought till the end, one goal decided the game. I can’t blame the team in terms of fighting to win. What we lacked was probably penetration in the sixteenth and we did a little too much in the last third.”
Tony Cross, Midfielder Germany, ZDF . in an interview with: “I think we have implemented what we set out to do. In my opinion, we played a good game and had a chance to score as well. In the end we lose to an unfortunate goal. End It’s an action in itself, a goal of its own, which you’ll still clear in many cases. We already knew they had different orbits and we couldn’t finish it for 90 minutes. But I think we did Controlled the game a lot.”
vital statistics
- Les Blais has been unbeaten for 16 competitive games (S13 U3).
- France have not lost their last five matches against Germany.
- Germany have failed to score only once in their last 26 international matches.
- France has never lost the opening game of Euro (S5 U3).
- Hummels had his first goal that Germany had to accept at Euros and the second in major tournaments after Bertie Vogts (against Austria in the 1978 World Cup).
- Germany had never lost the first game of Euro (S5 U5).
- At Euro 2016, Germany did not score a goal in the group stage.
- Germany is now the first team to play 50 matches in the Euro final.
planetarium
France: loris; Pavard, Varane, Kimpembe, Hernandez; Kante, Pogba, Rabiot (90. + 4 Dembele), Griezmann; Benzema (89. Tolisso), Mbappeo
Germany: News; Ginter (88. Cain), Hummels, Rudiger; Kimmich, Gundogan, Kroos, Gosens (88th Woland), Havertz (74th Sane), T. Muller; Gnabry (74th Werner)