'So disappointed' — Graeme Souness slams 'miserable' Scotland display after 5-1 Germany defeat

Getty Images

Scotland will need to dust themselves off after their hefty Euro 2024 opening defeat against Germany on Friday night if they want to push to qualify for this year’s knockouts. Not many expected the Tartan Army to come away with a result against the host nation but a dreadful start to the campaign saw them ship five goals and see a player sent off after Ryan Porteous gave away a penalty just before half-time.

Antonio Rüdiger’s own goal was enough to give the travelling Scots something to cheer about but it was ultimately a dismal day at the office for Steve Clarke and his side. The defeat by no means spells Scotland’s exit from the tournament, though. The Tartan Army can still progress but they will need to return to the drawing board and put in some convincing shifts after receiving some hard-hitting criticism after the match.

Graeme Souness, who was in the studio for the clash at the Allianz Arena, lamented Scotland’s ‘miserable’ performance, which has left them with a big hill to climb against Switzerland and Hungary.

“My worst fear was Germany getting an early goal — if they get on top of you, they give you a hard time. We did that. We never got started, we never got a foothold, we never had a presence in the game, gave away a daft goal and then the roof caved in. The sending off just before half-time compounded all those problems. We were miserable tonight,” Souness said during ITV’s coverage of the Euro 2024 opener.

“I can’t really tell you how good this Germany team is because we were so bad. Let’s see how they fare against a really good team as well. I am so disappointed, we let ourselves down badly tonight.”

Scotland were down 2-0 with less than 20 minutes on the clock after Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala both got themselves on the scoresheet. Kai Havertz’s penalty following Porteous’ challenge on İlkay Gündoğan sent the Germans into the break with a three-goal cushion. Two more goals courtest of Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can put the match way beyond any sort of comeback for Scotland in the second half.

Roy Keane echoed Souness’ comments during the post-match discussions, stating that Clarke’s side were ‘second best in every aspect of the game’ to Germany.

“Physically, tactically, even mentally,” the former Manchester United star said. “We said before the game about being competitive but they weren’t even that. They showed a little bit of fighting spirit in the second half, as you would expect from Scotland, but the difference in quality was chalk and cheese, they were out of their depth.”

Scotland’s next test will see them come up against Switzerland on Wednesday, June 19th. With the four best third-placed teams advancing to the knockouts, the Tartan Army still have a lot to fight for but a win against the Swiss next week will certainly help ease the nerves ahead of their final Group A match against Hungary.