Within the second round of Group Two matches (Euro 2024), Germany faces Hungary to ensure qualification

Mark
Written By Mark

The German national team seeks to qualify early for the round of 16 when it faces Hungary today in Stuttgart in the second round of Group A. The German team started the tournament with a great victory over Scotland 5-1, while the Hungarian team lost in its opening match to its Swiss counterpart 1-3. Switzerland followed suit with its valuable victory over Hungary 3-1, so they shared the top spot in the group with the Germans having a goal difference advantage, and thus their victory together. Today, the two direct cards will be decided in their favour.
Although all current indicators give preference to the German national team, the Hungarian national team represents a historical complex in direct confrontations against the Germans.
The Germans will seek revenge against Hungary, which defeated them 1-0 in their home in Leipzig in the fifth round of the group stage of the European Nations League competition in September 2022, after they tied 1-1 in the third round in Budapest on June 11 of the same year.
Germany failed to beat Hungary in the last three matches between them, as they also tied 2-2 in the third round of the group stage of the continental edition, which was held in 2021 at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Germany did not lose in its last five matches in various competitions and tied once, while Hungary achieved one win in its last six matches, compared to three defeats and two draws.

Julian Nagelsmann: Germany needs to win

“We know that the match against Scotland was a good first step,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said. I don’t think it makes sense to be cautious after this win. “I want to give the team as much energy as possible, but I also feed off their energy.”
He added, “The work is very enjoyable at the moment, and we will try to provide a similar performance in today’s match.” “We need to win more matches if we want to achieve our goals.”
For his part, Hungary’s Italian coach Marco Rossi admitted that his players committed many mistakes during the defeat against Switzerland in Cologne, but given his positive results against Germany, the toughest competitor in the group, he is confident of his team’s ability to frustrate the tournament hosts.
“We wanted to avoid Germany, not only because they are hosts but because of their quality,” he said. They are a different class. We met in the last Nations League, and after this continental cup we will meet again (in the European Nations League next September and November), which means that we will meet six times in three years.” He added, “In the last three matches, we did not lose to them, we achieved one win and two draws. “We hope to continue this positive streak even knowing that what lies ahead will be a completely different match.”

Croatia and Albania to correct course

The Croatian national team will meet its Albanian counterpart, today, at the Volkspark Stadium in Hamburg, in the second round of the second group matches of the European Nations Cup (Euro 2024), currently being held in Germany. The two teams are raising the slogan: There is no alternative to victory, after the Croatia national team suffered a painful loss to its Spanish counterpart, 0-3, at the beginning of its continental career, while Albania narrowly lost to Italy, with two goals to one. In a large degree, the losing team from today’s confrontation will officially leave the tournament, while the other team will revive its chances of qualifying for the round of sixteen.
The Croatia national team is armed with the current golden generation during its journey in Euro 2024, as it includes among its ranks a mixture of experience and youth elements, including Jusko Gvardiol, the English defender of Manchester City, Borna Sosa, the defender of Ajax Amsterdam, the Dutch champion, Bosip Stanisic, the defender of Bayer Leverkusen, the German champion, and Luka Modric, the captain of Real Madrid. Spanish Madrid, Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic, Saudi Al-Nasr star Marcelo Brozovic, and Hoffenheim striker Andrej Kramaric.
On the other hand, the Albanian national team hopes to write a new history in the tournament in which it is participating for the second time in its history.
Brazilian coach Sylvinho has many distinguished players who he will rely on to achieve surprises in the European Championship, led by Armando Broja, goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha, Christian Aslani, Ernest Muki, and Berat Djemseti, the current team captain.
The Albanian national team has never faced its Croatian counterpart before, and the confrontation in Hamburg will be the first between them.
Today’s match against Albania is of great importance to coach Zlatko Dalic, who stressed the need for victory to correct the course and preserve his hopes of skipping the first round for the third time in a row in the Continental Cup.

Scotland to compensate and Switzerland to guarantee the transit card

For the same group, the Scotland national team seeks to overcome the heavy loss in the opening match against Germany when it meets the Swiss national team, which is looking for a ticket to the next round. Today’s confrontation will be the second between the two teams in the European Nations Cup, as Scotland previously beat Switzerland with a clean goal in the first round of the 1996 edition, which was held in England.
Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said: “It is important that we won our first match, but I was not very happy with our performance in the second half, so we have to play better against Scotland.”
On the other hand, Scotland coach Steve Clarke believed that his men should quickly forget the loss, admitting that “we did not play with our usual performance.”
“We feel like we let ourselves down,” he added. We are a better team than this. We must play better in the next two matches and earn at least four points. This is what we will focus on in order to get through the first round.”
He added, “We will analyze Albania and look at what we have to do, realizing that this is a decisive match for us, that we have to win, and that our opponent has confidence after performing well against us.” He continued, “Another difficult match and another battle awaits us, but we are used to it.”
On the other hand, Albania and its Brazilian coach Silvino will try to build on their wonderful performance against Italy, the defending champion, when they scored the fastest goal in the history of the tournament (after 23 seconds via Nadim Bayrami) before narrowly losing 1-2.

Mbappé suffered a broken nose and does not need surgery

France’s football team captain, Kylian Mbappé, will not need surgery, but he will wear a mask when he returns to play after suffering a broken nose in the 1-0 match against Austria, according to what the French Football Federation said.
French Federation President Philippe Diallo told reporters that Mbappe “will not need surgery, and he will be fine.” A statement published by the Federation confirmed this, saying that Mbappe underwent radiological examinations in a hospital in Dusseldorf and returned to the national team’s camp. He added, “A mask will be made that will allow (Mbappe) to think about returning to the field after a period of treatment.” However, it is not clear whether Mbappe will be able to play the next match against the Netherlands on Friday.