From school kids to warriors, Germany must get serious – Khedira

Jamal Musiala scored once and set up three more goals as Germany crushed visitors Hungary 5-0 on Saturday in a winning start to the Nations League competition.

New-look Germany, who have set their sights on the 2026 World Cup after their quarter-final run at the Euro on home soil in July, no longer have any 2014 World Cup winners in the squad following the international retirements of Thomas Mueller, Toni Kroos and Manuel Neuer.

Former captain Ilkay Gundogan also ended his international career.

They took the lead in their Group A3 encounter with Niclas Fuellkrug's tap-in from midfielder Musiala assist following a good passing combination in the 27th minute.

Germany, who play Netherlands on Tuesday and also face Bosnia in their group, should have added at least one more goal with Kai Havertz hitting the crossbar with a header in the 33rd and then firing narrowly wide in first half stoppage time.

With Hungary pushing for an equaliser, Musiala struck on the break in the 58th, completing a quick counter-attack from a visitors' corner.

Florian Wirtz then drilled in their third after a one-two with Musiala in the 66th before Havertz hit the woodwork once more.

Man-of-the-match Musiala then sent through Aleksandar Pavlovic in the 77th to slot in.

"It is fun to watch that today," said scorer Fuellkrug. "Jamal was in really good form. It is great to have him in the squad.

"We made a lot of deep runs and made it really hard for the opponents. Even when we did not have possession we controlled the game," he said.

Havertz still had time to get onto the scoresheet himself with an 81st minute penalty.

Veteran Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano insists relations between the players and coach Jorge Sampaoli are not strained after reports of unrest within the team camp.

Sampaoli was roundly criticised for his game plan following a 3-0 loss to Croatia in Argentina's second group game at the World Cup, sparking rumours the 58-year-old would be sacked during the tournament.

"The relationship with the coach is completely normal," Mascherano said ahead of the must-win match against Nigeria in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.

"Obviously, when we feel uncomfortable about something we speak with him because if we didn't we would be hypocrites."

Argentina were on the brink of elimination after the Croatia mauling but victory against Nigeria would send them through as runners-up in Group D if leaders Croatia avoid defeat against Iceland.

"We know the situation is tricky," Mascherano said. "We have to be united, to express our opinions, and do everything possible so the team goes into the game in the best position."

Argentine Football Association (AFA) president Claudio Tapia has given his backing to Sampaoli after holding a meeting with the embattled coach on Friday, a team source revealed.

Franco Armani is tipped to replace Willy Caballero for the Nigeria clash after the Chelsea goalkeeper's blunder against Croatia, with Sampaoli also expected to ditch his three-match defence and return to a traditional back four.

Cristiano Ronaldo had the most attempts on target and hosts Germany made best use of their chances in the first round of pool matches at the European Championship, while a forward from Romania has been the quickest across the grass so far.

Ronaldo did not get on the scoresheet from his three shots on target in Portugal's 2-1 victory over Czech Republic on Tuesday and is one of four players to have five attempts at goal in total along with France's Marcus Thuram, Georgia's Georges Mikautadze and Christian Eriksen of Denmark.

It has been a tournament for early – and late - goals so far, with six of the 34 netted inside the opening 15 minutes, and 14 in the first half-hour. There have been four goals scored past the 90-minute mark already.

With a healthy average of 2.84 goals per game, or one every 32 minutes, only five of the 24 teams failed to find the back of the net in their opening fixtures.

Albania's Nedim Bajrami scored the fastest goal in Euros history after 23 seconds against Italy, though his side ended up losing 2-1.

Portugal lead the possession numbers with 69 per cent, while hosts Germany were similarly dominant with 68 per cent as they thumped Scotland 5-1.

The Germans have the best passing accuracy with 94 per cent, led by their 21-year-old attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala, who completed 100 per cent of his 33 passes to teammates.

Serbia put in the joint most number of tackles with 20 in their 1-0 loss to England, a figure matched by Turkey in their rip-roaring 3-1 victory over Georgia.

Germany's players come out to warm up ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024 Group A football match between Germany and Scotland at the Munich Football Arena in Munich on June 14, 2024. Photo: AFP

Two players managed two assists in the first round of games, Romania forward Dennis Man as they beat Ukraine 3-0 and, perhaps more surprising, Netherlands defender Nathan Ake in the 2-1 victory over Poland.

Turkey had the most shots at goal as a team with 22, one more than the Netherlands, and also had the highest expected goals (xG) - a measure of how promising their chances were - with 2.62.

The most efficient side was Germany, who netted five times from an xG of 2.04, and the most wasteful Croatia as they were held scoreless by Spain in their 3-0 loss despite an xG of 2.27.

Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek was the busiest between the posts, making seven saves, one more than the Netherlands' Bart Verbruggen.

There were four players who clocked running at over 35 kilometres per hour, headed by Romania forward Valentin Mihaila (35.9km/h).

Belgium's Jeremy Doku (35.3), Rasmus Hojlund (35.3) from Denmark and France captain Kylian Mbappe (35.2) were the others.

No player covered more grass than Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who ran 13.9 kilometres against England.

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann lamented the decision to deny his side a late penalty in Friday's 2-1 Euro 2024 loss to Spain, saying "the referee blew in favour of Spain a little".

With the hosts on the attack in extra time and the scores locked at 1-1, Jamal Musiala's shot at goal connected with the outstretched arm of Spain's Marc Cucurella, who was standing inside the box.

The German players, along with the home fans, appeared to celebrate after the incident but referee Anthony Taylor waved it away and VAR did not overturn his decision.

The decision came moments before Spain's Mikel Merino jumped high to head in a chip from Dani Olmo, which won the game and sent his country through to the semifinals.

Germany were the beneficiaries of a handball decision in their 2-0 last 16 win over Denmark, with the defender's hand much closer to his body and the ball not headed towards the goal.

"It wasn't deserved today and the referee blew in favour of Spain a little," said Nagelsmann.

"It was a clear penalty."

The coach demanded a change in the handball rules depending on where the shot was going, calling for the use of artificial intelligence to determine the flightpath of the ball.

Speaking with MagentaTV, Nagelsmann said: "If Jamal Musiala shoots the ball towards the city centre of Stuttgart and Cucurella touches it, I would never want a penalty.

"(But the ball) goes towards the goal and he stops it clearly with his hand.

"We have 50 robots that bring us coffee, so there must be an AI that calculates where the ball will go."

The 36-year-old coach added that Musiala's shot was "very good, it will probably even go in, and the hand is stretched out far away (from the body)".

Russian police said early on Wednesday they had received multiple bomb threats in the World Cup host city of Rostov-on-Don, causing bars and restaurants to be evacuated across the city.

"On June 26, police received a series of phone calls about explosives planted at locations in Rostov-on-Don," local police said in a statement.

"Police forces made all the necessary checks and no dangerous objects were found," the statement said. "Currently, all the venues are operating normally."

Increasingly isolated on the global stage, Russia is keen to use the World Cup to project an image of stability and strength. Authorities have vowed to host a safe event and any security incidents involving fans could jeopardise Moscow's efforts.

A policeman at the Topos Congress-Hotel in Rostov-on-Don, which was evacuated at around 2000 GMT on Tuesday, said 16 venues had been evacuated across the city as part of a drill.

On the other side of the city, a manager at the Luciano Italian restaurant said staff had been told to evacuate the building for around two hours after receiving a bomb threat.

"There was a phone call, an anonymous phone call, they said there was a bomb in the building," said the manager, who declined to give their name because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

A spokesman for soccer's world governing body FIFA was not immediately available for comment.

The Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, some 955 km (593 miles) south of Moscow, has so far hosted four matches in the World Cup, including Croatia's 2-1 win over Iceland earlier on Tuesday. The next scheduled match at the venue is on Monday.

The city is just a short distance from Russia's border with eastern Ukraine, where rebels backed by Moscow have been fighting Ukrainian troops since 2014, and its close proximity to the conflict had caused security concerns ahead of the tournament.

The Topos Congress-Hotel is listed as an official World Cup hotel by FIFA, but none of the competing teams are staying there, according to official documents.

Police at the scene said the hotel had been evacuated due to a bomb threat and sniffer dogs were seen entering the building, a Reuters witness said.

Security services were seen questioning people on the street outside the hotel, next to emergency vehicles and a crowd of around 60 evacuated guests who had not yet been allowed back into the building.

Russia was subject to a wave of hoax bomb threats last summer, causing disruption at businesses and public buildings in towns and cities across the country.

The Russian Federal Security Service said in October it had identified four Russian citizens behind the hoax campaign, who were living abroad and using internet phone services to call in the threats anonymously.