German EM defeat against France: Of high

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Mats Hummels made an own goal in the European Championship opener against France

Photo:

QUAY PFAFFENBACH / REUTERS

Bite to the break whistle:

The scene of the game

delivered Antonio Rüdiger when the ball was not near. The 28-year-old has just won the Champions League with Chelsea and is in great shape. The defender showed shortly before the end of the first half that he had bite. Rüdiger nibbled on the right shoulder of France's Paul Pogba like a male lion in love on the neck of a female lion. The nibbling fun for adults was actually a form of violence that could have been punished with red. And it was reminiscent of other samples of sports history. After the final whistle, Rüdiger and Pogba gave each other a friendly hug.

The result:

The German team did not get the sometimes famous French in the game and therefore deservedly lost 0: 1 (0: 1) after an own goal by Mats Hummels. For the first time since there has been a group stage at the European Championships, Germany has suffered an opening defeat. Click here for the match report.

Just past a tragedy:

the game had not yet started when there was already the first big excitement. A glider had rushed into the arena from outside the Munich stadium. The logo of the environmental activists Greenpeace was emblazoned on the screen, along with the slogan "Kick out Oil". According to the police, two people were injured in the risky flight number; the pilot had touched the cables of the camera hung over the field with his umbrella. It landed roughly on the lawn.

Rüdiger was gentler here and immediately asked how he was feeling.

The activist was led from the field by security personnel.

With all the love for protests that revolve around environmental issues: It was an irresponsible, life-threatening action that could have ended in tragedy.

Greenpeace later stated that it should have been very different.

First half:

Hummels experienced a sporty crash landing after kick-off.

A goal by him against France caused a lot of euphoria in Germany. In the 2014 World Cup quarter-finals, it was a header to the 1-0 victory. This time, however, the defender hit his own net. A fantastic outside foot pass from Pogba to Lucas Hernández, a slightly too far pushed in Joshua Kimmich on the right and an unsuccessful clarification action from Hummels: 0: 1 (20th). The first own goal in German EM history and a reverse déjà vu for Hummels. "I'm not blaming Mats for that," said national coach Joachim Loew later.

Second half:

0: 2 it would have been quickly after the restart had it not been for Adrien Rabiot alone in front of Manuel Neuer, but Kylian Mbappé or Antion Griezmann. Rabiot, central midfielder of Juventus, hit the post (52nd). That gave the German team the opportunity to find something back in this game. Serge Gnabry failed after a cross from the conspicuous left winger Robin Gosen (54th). But the DFB-Elf was never really dangerous. And she was lucky: Mbappé (66th) and Karim Benzema (85th) each hit the net, but twice from an offside position.

In love with a tackle:

Hummels was unlucky in this game because he missed the own goal. But actually the returnees played a decent game - and he showed that you can keep up with an aging Golf against a Ferrari if you are only experienced enough on the road. In the 78th minute, Mbappé ran away from him that almost had to be sorry for Hummels. He took eight, nine, ten meters from him in a running duel. But then the Dortmund started a fantastic tackle in the penalty area, which they wanted to marry on the spot. Opportunity thwarted.

Debate about Kimmich:

As expected, Löw had decided to deploy Kimmich, actually his key player in front of the defense, on the right side in a 3-4-3 system. The plan was risky because, firstly, Kimmich is the best ball conqueror on the team and, secondly, hadn't played in this position for a year. When the goal was conceded, Kimmich looked a little worse, but that could have happened to Lukas Klostermann, Löw's alternative. In addition, Toni Kroos and Ilkay Gündoğan did well in central midfield for long stretches of the game. Kroos even discovered the two-fighter in himself. The debates about the right position for Kimmich will of course continue.

Player of the game:

Paul Pogba. The midfielder is something like the opposite of the ever-popular N'Golo Kanté. Unlike his 1.68 meters shorter and shy neighbor, Pogba polarizes. But against Germany, the 28-year-old showed an outstanding game, initiated the winning goal with a world-class game shift and later also played a wonderful pass to Mbappé, which only did not lead to 0-2 due to an offside position. In this form, Pogba should be one of the players in this tournament.

This is how it goes on:

Germany is in third place after the opening defeat in Group F and has to score against Portugal on Saturday in order to have a good chance of progressing. "If you lose the first game and only have three group games, the pressure is great," said Kroos. And he was right.