Rudiger confident hosts Germany will do well

“We don’t have to talk about past tournaments, we all know what happened there. It’s been up and down for us all the way here and that’s why we have to be humble

The sound of bagpipes, and men in kilts on the streets of Munich—Scotland is in town and the excitement is ramping up ahead of the European Championship curtainraiser on Friday.

Host nation Germany plays Scotland at Allianz Arena in the opener of the month-long tournament. The final is in Berlin on July 14 and Germany is even keener to get there after three straight fiascos at major tournaments that has forced its fans to readjust their expectations of the men’s national team. “We are not here just to say hello but we still have to be humble,” Germany defender Antonio Rudiger said. 

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“We don’t have to talk about past tournaments, we all know what happened there. It’s been up and down for us all the way here and that’s why we have to be humble. The first match is very important and then we’ll see what happens during the rest of the tournament.”

A good first match and group stage would set off a new wave of excitement in Germany, even though scenes similar to when it brilliantly hosted the 2006 World Cup (and reached the semi-finals) are hard to imagine in a changed political landscape.

While the Scots are out in droves in Munich, proudly wearing their team jerseys (many combined with kilts), there is hardly a sighting of a Germany shirt or flag. Political extremists are flourishing, anxiety pervades the country, and the national team has under-performed.

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