How do Scotland beat Germany?

Toni Kroos and Kai HavertzImage source, Reuters
  • Published

Is a counter-attack approach Scotland's route to a stunning win in their Euro 2024 opener with Germany?

Scottish coach and analyst John Walker believes so.

Steve Clarke's side will walk out at the Allianz Arena as huge underdogs in Munich, and while the "right wing-back area is a concern" for Walker, he can potentially see the game unfolding in a frustrating manner for the Germans.

"I wouldn't want Scotland to be high pressing," he told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast. "So I'm looking for Germany to get impatient, crowd on their back, still goalless after an hour.

"Then they might try to force those passes and you've got Kieran Tierney, Andy Robertson, Scott McTominay and John McGinn on the counter.

"I could see [any potential goal] being like both goals in Gibraltar, both goals in Finland, coming from Robertson crossing positions or McGinn underlapping.

"If you can counter Germany, you can get in their box and you can get a numerical advantage. You can get goals against this German side."

That view coincides with the concerns Germans have about their side, according to Derek Rae, who says Julian Nagelsmann's men are struggling "to break down teams like Scotland".

"I think how you have success against Germany is, first of all, you've got to hope they have a bad night," the Germany-based Scottish broadcaster adds.

"Germany will obviously sit high. And where they get into trouble sometimes is with protecting themselves against the counter-attack.

"You're sometimes in a situation where there are only two German players back, we've seen it time and again, most recently against Greece in the warm-up game in Monchengladbach, where they look dishevelled at times."