The German team is still very far from winning the EURO 2024 championship, but looking at the steps of Jamal Musiala or Florian Wirtz, this country’s fans have seen the light of hope after nearly a decade of darkness.
After only 2 matches, Jamal Musiala has reached 2 milestones. The Bayern Munich star became the first player to win an individual title at EURO 2024, when he received the best player award in the match between Germany and Scotland. Actually, it’s not too special, because Germany is the first team to play, so obviously Musiala has the advantage. However, look at this milestone: Musiala became the second youngest player in history to score in both first matches at a EURO final (21 years and 114 days), second only to legend Ferenc Bene of Hungary. Bene’s achievements happened 60 years ago.
Musiala is an inspiration for the German team’s аttаck
AFP
60 years is also a period of time nearly equal to a human lifetime, witnessing the continuous change of prosperity and decline of German football. “Ԁie Mannschaft” swept the EURO and World Cup in the period 1972 – 1996 (5 championships), then was quiet in the early 2000s, returned to the top of the world in 2014 and then sank again. When the skinny boy Musiala joined Chelsea’s training center to nurture his football dream with a dream that was nurtured by his father and mother who are both immigrants, the German team was in crisis due to failure (2 World Cups 2018). , 2022 were all eliminated in the group stage) and split.
Mesut Ozil once said goodbye to the German team with a bitter statement: “When I win, I’m German. And when I lose, they just see me as an immigrant.” Players who are not “purely German” like Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan are criticized. Even before EURO 2024, a German radio station questioned Gundogan’s captaincy. Besides internal turmoil, over the past 10 years, the German team has also struggled to find the next generation of Manuel Neuer, Matt Hummels, Ozil, and Thomas Muller.
Then at EURO 2024 , the light flashed, with the young star stepping onto the big stage to solve the talent problem for “Ԁie Mannschaft”, and at the same time breаking down the barriers of prejudice about immigrants that existed in the subconscious. awareness of a part of the German people. Jamal Musiala is doing both with his mesmerizing play in the modern number 10 role.
Unlike other conductors who lead the playing style in the classical style, Musiala leads the German аttаck with endless energy. He moved tirelessly, covering the entire field on the right wing, the middle and the left wing. If former defender Robert Huth said Musiala has “magic in his feet”, then coach Julian Nagelsmann rates Musiala and Jude Bellingham as the two brightest young stars currently, not only because of numbers and records, but also The mechanical elements that cannot be measured are thinking. If Musiala simply has the ability to dribble like the ball stuck in his shoe, then… usually, German football does not lack such “dribblers”. The difference of the star born in 2003 also lies in the intensity of his activities, the ability to choose a good position between the opponent’s defenses and eliminate defenders with just one touch.
Musiala is only 21 years old. In front of you is the whole sky!