- Andy Robertson harshly criticized Scotland’s performance against Germany
- Robertson says Scotland were ‘hugely disappointing’ as they lost 5-1 in opener
- Listen to It’s all starting! Why Euro 2024 could offer us an ‘old school’ tournament again
Andy Robertson harshly criticized Scotland’s performance after they were thrashed 5-1 by hosts Germany in the opening match of Euro 2024.
It was a miserable start to the tournament for Scotland, who saw Ryan Porteous sent off just before half-time.
Germany opened the scoring through Florian Wirtz in the tenth minute before Jamal Musiala made it 2-0 nine minutes later.
Porteous was then sent off for a rash tackle on Ilkay Gundogan, and Kai Havertz subsequently scored from the penalty spot.
Scotland looked even more miserable as a fine finish from Niclas Fullkrug made it 4-0 to Germany.
Andy Robertson admits Scotland ‘got wrong’ in 5-1 defeat to Germany
The dismissal of Ryan Porteous just before half-time served to compound Scotland’s misery.
An Antonio Rudiger own goal temporarily reduced the lead before Emre Can made it 5-1 for Germany in the final moment.
Robertson was extremely disappointed with the way Scotland performed.
Robertson told ITV: “In the first half we made a mistake.” They didn’t really show up, they weren’t aggressive enough, they let the good players have the ball. They had a game plan and we had a game plan and theirs worked a million times better. It wasn’t because of practice, it was because we didn’t do well on the field.
‘In the second half, we were down to ten men. The boys held up very well and we lost a sloppy goal at the end and the second half could have been tied, but it’s no consolation.
‘Today has been tremendously disappointing. But you are playing the first match against the host country and there is nothing more difficult than that.
‘Their great players showed up and were excellent all over the park. They had an answer for everything. I don’t think we played our best. We have to dust ourselves off. We have five days to dust ourselves off and start again. Tomorrow we’ll be angry with ourselves and disappointed and go again.’
Scotland will look to perform significantly better in their two remaining group matches against Switzerland and Hungary.
Roy Keane disagreed with Robertson’s comments and also criticized Scotland’s approach to the game.
Robertson insists Scotland must bounce back and perform better in their next two matches.
Roy Keane was dismissive of Robertson’s comments and Scotland’s overall performance.
He said on ITV: ‘Andy Robertson spoke at the end of the game and said they had a game plan. It’s great to have a plan.
‘He said they weren’t aggressive enough. You have to be aggressive in a soccer game. When you face opponents much stronger than you, being aggressive is part of being a footballer.
‘My God, when you play at this level, you have to hit people. Hit them properly, hit them aggressively, do it the right way.’
Keane also claimed that Scotland “should be angry for a long time” after their performance.
“If you pull away from them like Scotland did tonight… It’s no use talking after the game saying we had a game plan.” It’s rubbish! Andy Robertson… it’s all rubbish coming to light.
“Before the game you knew what was at stake and after the game it’s no use saying ‘we’ll regroup and get angry tomorrow.’ You should be angry for a long time.
“They talked before the game about making history; they are creating history by playing so badly and disappointing their coach and their fans.”
