One Germany player, tipped early on to be one of the hosts’ stars of the European Championship this summer, delivered an ominous performance on Friday night in the 5-1 thrashing of Scotland.
Germany needed only 10 minutes to take the lead after Florian Wirtz’s opener, before going in 3-0 and a man up at the break thanks to Jamal Musiala’s emphatic strike and Kai Havertz’s penalty.
The hosts added another after the interval through Borussia Dortmund’s Niclas Fullkrug, before an own goal from Antonio Rudiger and an Emre Can strike saw the game finish 5-1 to Julian Nagelsmann’s side.
It was a game that saw so many German stars flourish, with Toni Kroos in particular putting in a vintage performance in what is set to be his final competition in football.
However, ITV pundits Ian Wright and Graeme Souness were quick to single out one German forward in particular after a performance that will have the rest of the competition’s big-hitters taking note.
One of the stars of Germany’s 5-1 mauling picked up some huge praise from ITV’s pundits
Ian Wright compared the forward to Brazil’s Ballon d’Or winning legend Kaka on Friday night
Meanwhile Graeme Souness claimed the 21-year-old was like a ‘slalom skier’ the way he moved
‘There’s a resemblance to Kaka in how upright he is,’ began Wright, who was clearly more than impressed by what he saw on Friday night from Musiala.
‘His feet for the size he is are unbelievable. Once he got on it, he’s just attacking space with his close control.’
And Wright was not alone in his effusive praise of the 21-year-old’s performance, after leaving defenders in his wake throughout the game in a mesmeric showing.
‘His balance is unbelievable. He stops and starts – he seems to be moving (again) before he’s already stopped!’ Souness added.
‘He’s a special talent. He’s like a slalom skier and he’s only 21. You would pay to watch him.’
England fans will also have been cursing their luck on Friday night, with Musiala of course choosing to play for Germany over the Three Lions back in 2021.
Born in Stuttgart to a German mother and British-Nigerian father, Musiala lived in Germany until the age of 7, before moving to south west London.
He then grew up in the English capital until leaving for Germany and Bayern Munich from Chelsea at the age of 16, making him eligible for both nations.
Jamal Musiala left players in his wake all night with his deft movement and agility in attack
The player picked up the Player of the Match gong after a stunning performance on Friday
The Bayern Munich star netted the second goal in emphatic fashion as Germany raced into the lead
However, ahead of the delayed 2020 Euros, Musiala pledged his allegiances to Germany, having represented both countries at youth level, and you can hardly criticise him the way he has thrived since then.
Friday night was just the latest in a string of stunning performances, and saw him net his third goal for die Mannschaft in 30 games at just 21.
The Bayern Munich star was clapped off the field from a game that saw him pick up the Player of the Match and admitted after: ‘I had the best feeling ever, we wanted to start well and I’m happy we scored so many goals so now we can go into the next games with lots of confidence.’
He added: ‘I think to win that comfortably was a good sign and we can take that confidence into the next game. For me personally, I was quite happy but there’s still things that we can do better.
‘We’re not going to let it get to our heads too much and we’re going to go into the next game with the same mentality.’
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