Plenty of distractions for England off the football pitch at Euro 2024

If excitement at Germany hosting Euro 2024 was slow to arise, June 14 in Munich almost certainly lit the blue touch paper. Scotland played their part, though their fans did most of the heavy lifting before their players flopped to a 5-1 defeat that fulfilled all the stereotypes about their national team in 90 sorry minutes.

Germany meanwhile, by the looks of the night, have a team full of attacking talent, one for the host nation to get behind. With division in the country’s political class, an economy no longer quite so robust after relations with Russia, previously the provider of cheap natural gas, were wrecked by the conflict in Ukraine, Germany had appeared slightly reluctant hosts.