Germany got off to a dream start in the Euro 2024 after claiming a comfortable 5-1 victory over Scotland in their opener at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Just before halfway, the Germans easily defeated a helpless Scotland team down to 10 men, with goals from Emre Can, Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz, Niclas Fuellkrug, and Jamal Musiala.

Gundogan stated in an interview with TV network Magenta that his team intended to “take the euphoria, the atmosphere with us” for the duration of the competition.

The Barcelona midfielder gave the Munich home crowd extra credit by praising the “pure atmosphere” of the first half.

“We played a really good game. Played with really good intensity, scored goals.

“That’s how you have to do it, that’s how you have to start.”

This is a significant change in environment for Germany, who have not performed well in major championships for nearly a decade.

After losing to England in the round of 16 at the 2021 European Championship, Germany was ousted in the group stages of the previous two World Cups.

In addition to being selected man of the match, Musiala commended the German supporters for starting his team out strongly.

“We saw the atmosphere in the whole country and that’s what we need.”

After ten minutes, Germany took the lead and scored again nine minutes later.

“We could not have had a better start,” Musiala said, explaining: “We wanted to start well and that’s what we did.

“We had a good plan, we had trust in our coach and our tactics. When we’re in a good flow, then it works.”

Drawing comparisons with Germany’s journey to the 2006 World Cup semifinals—now dubbed the’summer fairytale’—Fuelkrug, who scored one goal and had another disallowed for offside, thought that Friday’s victory was the beginning of something extraordinary.

“That was an outstanding beginning to what we want: a summer fairytale.

“We didn’t let up after a single goal. We were really upset about the goal we conceded – and this greed is what we need.”

Photo by EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK