AMONG the myriad notes which Gordon Strachan has made about the German national team since the draw for the Euro 2016 qualifiers, the Scotland manager will likely have made one more last night.
It will be underlined to his players on Sunday: Germany are the world champions, but they are also only human.
Admittedly this was an understrength German side but they were still cut by a series of sharp attacking moves and bled four goals in Dusseldorf against Argentina, the team which was dispatched in the World Cup final in July. Angel di Maria - who was a Real Madrid player when he stepped out in the Maracana but faced the Germans last night as a Manchester United man - set up the first three goals for the South Americans before capping the display with the fourth. Andre Schuerrle and substitute Mario Goetze responded for the hosts.
The idea that Germany can be conquered on their own soil will allow Scotland supporters to dream of a famous victory when the two teams kick off their Euro 2016 qualifying campaigns in Dortmund on Sunday, yet that must be tempered by reality. Only four members of the side which started the World Cup final lined up against Argentina last night and Strachan will anticipate an overhaul to the line up come Sunday.
Di Maria will also not feature in a Scotland jersey. That was never going to happen but it was still worth keeping in mind - a makeshift German defence was only picked apart by a player who became the most expensive import to British football only last week. He proved his value to his national team last night too, setting up goals for Sergio Aguero, Erik Lamela and Federico Fernandez within the first 50 minutes.
Mario Gomez - recalled to the squad having not been deemed fit enough to play at the World Cup - had the first chance of the game after six minutes but his shot struck Sergio Romero, the Argentina goalkeeper, in the face. The German striker then spurned two further chances in the first half and was jeered by a section of home fans at half-time. Should he prove as wayward on Sunday, he will be the darling of the Tartan Army.
The mood of the German fans was not helped by the sight of Di Maria teeing up two first-half goals, either. After 20 minutes, he curled a cross in behind the Germany defence with the outside of his left boot for Aguero to clip the ball into the roof of the net.
Di Maria then created the second goal just five minutes before the break, easing to the byeline and lifting a cross towards Lamela, who placed his shot past Manuel Neuer.
Roman Weidenfeller took his place in goal for the home side at half-time and was beaten two minutes later, as Fernandez headed in Di Maria's cross. The winger added the fourth with a dinked finish just three minutes later.
Germany responded in kind, with Schuerrle finding space in the penalty area to volley the ball past Romero and Goetze then watched as his effort deflected in off Fernandez.
Despite the scoreline, the prospect of meeting Germany on Sunday may still cause Scotland to quake. They are only human, after all.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article