Latest updates from the Group D match Email nick.miller.casual@theguardian.comOr get in touch via Twitter: @NickMiller79Check out all todays live scores 9.04pm BST 61 mins: Save! Reus suddenly finds himself behind the Scottish defence and tries to slip it under Marshall, but the keeper does well to get something on it and turn it behind. Meanwhile, one of the German coaching staff (Andreas Köpke, I think) straightens Jogi Löws shirt collar. 9.02pm BST 59 mins: Oh Steven. The ball reaches Naismith in space and at an awkward height in the box, and he takes his shot first-time, high around his hip with his left foot, and it skews well wide. He probably had time to take that one down, but he perhaps got a little giddy. 9.00pm BST 58 mins: And those subs are Steven Fletcher for Bannan, while James McArthur replaces skiper Darren Fletcher. Imagine Naismith will move out to the right and McArthur will sit deep, allowing Morrison to push even further on. 8.59pm BST 56 mins: Höwedes advances up the pitch and tries a shot, but its easily blocked. Meanwhile, some subs are afoot... 8.58pm BST 53 mins: Oli Senior has a lookalike suggestion:Something of the Klaus Kinski about Mr Naismith dontcha think? Not to get too liberal arts about the whole football thing , but lets face it, whatve we got left to keep our spirits up? 8.54pm BST 50 mins: Hanley gets the softest yellow card you ever did see after a push on Turkey-Like Angelface. A foul, sure, but a yellow card...not a chance. The free-kick is swung into the box, its half-headed clear but Schürrle finds himself in a stupid amount of space, only for him to blaze his shot over the bar. 8.51pm BST 48 mins: SO CLOSE FOR SCOTLAND! The German defence seem convinced Hutton is actually Javier Zanetti and give him a baffling amount of space in which to power forwards, he lays it inside to Naismith who creates some space with some excellent smart footwork, then drags a shot which looks like its going to creep in at the far post, but instead just tails away and clips the outside of it. Ooof. 8.48pm BST 46 mins: The football has begun again. Meanwhile, Konstantin Richter writes, about Mario Götzes weirdly chubby face (weird in that the rest of him doesnt appear to be chubby):In Germany we say that he has a puttenhaftes engelsgesicht, which loosely translates as turkey-like angelface. Very common in Germany. 8.47pm BST The players are out for the second half, greeted by what sounds like a Euro-rock version of Ode To Joy. Jah! 8.45pm BST Stats!Toni Kroos: Completed 3 more passes in the final third of the pitch (17) in the first half of #gersco than Scotland managed as a whole (14) 8.39pm BST A favourite image from the first half... 8.38pm BST Elsewhere in this group, Poland are 1-0 up over Gibraltar, with Ireland of course beating Georgia earlier on. Other scores include the Faroe Islands leading Finland 1-0 at half-time, Romania 1-0 up over Greece, while Portugal havent managed to break Albania down. 8.37pm BST David Wall raises something interesting to ponder:Just a thought raised by your opening preamble, how would independence affect the progress of players for the Scottish national team? A great number of potential internationals earn their keep in the English top couple of divisions, and currently arent subject to any constraints due to nationality. But even putting to one side issues about being non-English squad members which might discourage English clubs from signing them, if theyre not automatically admitted to the EU (and Spain in particular might have the odd objection to that), then theyll be subject to work permit issues as well. That could really reduce the opportunities for Scots to play in England and, given the current standard of the SPL, could have a knock-on effect for the national team, couldnt it? 8.33pm BST Well, Germany are in the lead, but it hasnt been the hosing that you might have feared playing the world champions. Germany have unquestionably been on top, but Scotland havent been too bad, some hairy moments at the back aside. If they can keep it tight, theres always a chance of Anya or Naismith causing a deeply skittish-looking defence an issue or two. 8.31pm BST 44 mins: Chance for Anya, as he scampers - and boy does he scamper - onto a loose ball, but so fast are his legs moving that hes sort of off-balance as he tries the left-footed shot, and Neuer makes an easy, almost casual save. 8.30pm BST 43 mins: Spoke too soon about the bagpipes: theres a set in the crowd, unfortunately attached to a human. 8.29pm BST 42 mins: A frantic minute or so. Firstly Anya chases a ball over the top, knocks it ahead of him only for Neuer to hare out of his goal to a place a goalie has no place being, and just about clear the ball away. From the subsequent counter-attack Schürrle delivers a low cross from the left, on which Reus and possibly one other gets a touch, but Marshall makes a fine scrambling save. Well played that man. 8.27pm BST 41 mins: Götze and his curiously chubby face advance into the area from the left, and with few options he manages to win a corner. More satisfying than scoring the winner in the World Cup final, no doubt. 8.25pm BST 39 mins: Hmmm. Some rather passive defending from Scotland as Reus and Müller run into each other on the right flank, but the latter is still allowed ample time to sort his feet out and deliver a cross. Which turns out to be bobbins, but the point stands. 8.24pm BST 37 mins: The pitchside effects mics reveal that German really is a beautiful language when screamed in an urgent manner. 8.22pm BST 35 mins: Reus whips over the sort of cross that makes defenders weep and cry for mummy, but Hanley actually deals with it reasonably well. In the background however, Müller falls to the turf with legs and arms akimbo, although its not hugely clear who fouled him. Fouled he was, though. This ref is not having the best of games. 8.19pm BST 32 mins: Sorry everyone - Ive been saying its McGregor in nets rather than Marshall for most of the game. What a plank. Should be fixed now though. 8.18pm BST 30 mins: Some more anthem fun now, and the excellent Andi Thomas writes in:Somebody on Twitter just sent me the USA anthem on steel drums... 8.16pm BST 28 mins: Anya tries to make tracks down the left, but Müller chases back then absolutely wipes the Watford man out after the ball had gone, something again ignored by the referee. Naismith then earns a talking to after a very limb-y jump with Boateng, in which he caught the German defender with at least one leg and at least one arm. 8.14pm BST 27 mins: Reus cracks a shot at goal, but Marshall does well to get down and get plenty behind that. 8.13pm BST 26 mins: Playing the odd ball over the top might not be the worst idea for Scotland. Naismith isnt the quickest, but Boateng and Höwedes look more panicked than a male PE teacher when presented with a girls monthly note to get out of swimming, panicking at the very idea of defending any ball behind them. Mulgrew tries that theory, but Boateng just gets his head to that one. 8.11pm BST 24 mins: More danger for Scotland, as Müller and a few other German attackers try to shift the thing around in the box enough to create some space for a shot, but dont quite manage it, and in the end Kroos spanks one way over the bar. 8.09pm BST 22 mins: Yer man Schürrle really is quite a player. Götze, rather unusually, wins a header in the area and knocks it back to the Chelsea man, who displays absolutely textbook technique to scissor a volley towards goal, but he cant quite get enough power behind it and Marshall makes the save. 8.07pm BST 20 mins: Höwedes, who looks like a walking error, is a lucky puppy there, bringing down Naismith with a most cynical block/hug as he chased a diagonal ball over the top. The referee seemingly doesnt see it, so not even a free-kick is given, when it could have been rather worse for the defender. Its OK though - the ref was about ten yards away with a completely clear line of sight, so you can see why he missed it. 8.05pm BST 18 mins: Well, that was devastatingly simple. Rudy tosses in a cross from the right, and some rather wet marking from Hutton and Whittaker allows Müller to loop in a header over Marshall. Poor defending there, and the little bit of momentum that Scotland were starting to build is spanked with a wet slipper. 8.04pm BST Ah. Well the optimism was fun while it lasted. 8.02pm BST 15 mins: Charlie Mulgrew might just be a left foot on a vaguely mobile body, but what a left foot it is sometimes. From the corner, he fair lashes one against the post, but the flag goes up for offside. Everyone seems convinced it went in, for some reason. 8.00pm BST 14 mins: Chance for Scotland. Anya scampers after a ball on the left of the area and makes Boateng look like the muggiest mug youve ever seen, he cuts it back into the area where Barry Bannan fires in a shot, but its deflected wide. 7.59pm BST 13 mins: The Scottish fans are singing Flower of Scotland a capella. Sounds weird without a xylophone now. 7.57pm BST 10 mins: Anya seems to be the man offering most support for Naismith, although Morrisson is pushing on a fair bit too. A crossfield pass looks for the former at the far post, but its headed clear by Höwdes. 7.55pm BST 8 mins: Oh man, what a miss from Thomas Müller. Durm whips a cross over from the left, and Müller has an embarrassing amount of room about 12 yards from goal, with Steven Whittaker believing the big Germany was offside. Despite this freedom, Müller heads over and does the classic look around for the flag, in the hope it would make him look slightly less of a buffoon. No dice, Tommy. 7.53pm BST 6 mins: Andre Schürrle cuts inside from the left and launches a shot towards goal. I say towards quite loosely, because it was technically in the right direction, but so high it would have missed another set of goals atop the current, regulation one. 7.51pm BST 5 mins: Scotland have now touched the ball at least three times in the German half. This is the sound of progress. Fletcher tries a skimming long pass at head height for either Anya or Steven Naismith, but it goes betwixt the two and is as such good for neither. Mild surprise to see Anya start on the left flank, rather than his usual right. 7.48pm BST 2 mins: Not sure Scotland have touched the ball y....oh, no, Ikechi Anya puts it out for a corner. Small acorns... 7.46pm BST 1 min: Were OFF OFF OFF. Germany have DOMINATED the opening 18 seconds. 7.45pm BST On balance, more national anthems should be played on the xylophone. 7.45pm BST Kramers starting in midfield for Germany. 7.41pm BST Weird. The band playing Flower of Scotland appears to feature a xylophone. Weird.Better than bagpipes, I guess. While one never wants to give rugby any credit for anything, silly sport for brutes that it is, this rendition will be hard to beat. 7.40pm BST Our man in Germany Barney Ronay writes with a suggestion of how the supporters might have been passing the hours today:Im not sure if it counts as entertainment but there was a four-hour Rod Stewart singalong in the beer garden next to the stadium this afternoon. Still with the Rod Stewart these guys... 7.39pm BST Just time before kick-off to take a look at this magnificently appalling-looking biopic of late actress Brittany Murphy. Get a load of the wig on Alicia. 7.34pm BST Yer man on Sky genuinely just said this game is one for bravehearts. Oh boy. 7.32pm BST Not double wahey for Scotland, Nick. Far from it I fear, writes Seamus Devlin. Well, thats just, like, your opinion, man. Stop harshing the buzz. Bumming us out. Bursting the bubble. 7.27pm BST I do hope the Scotch supporters found something to do in Dortmund today. Your fearless correspondent can tell you from rather tedious experience that its, well, something of a hole, having spent a day trudging around the town. The description Sunderland of Germany was mentioned. There is a smashing steak restaurant, mind. Hope they got reservations.The ground is proper, though. Obviously. 7.24pm BST This guy makes a reasonable point...@NickMiller79 Who needs outfield subs when you've got Neuer in goal? 7.23pm BST The last time Scotland beat Germany was back in 1999, when Don Hutchison bagged the only goal. Enjoy. 7.16pm BST The last time these two faced each other was the qualifiers for Euro 2004, when a Germany with significantly less jazz than the current one beat the Scots once and the other a draw. The first game ended 1-1, with Kenny Miller equalising Fredi Bobics opener at Hampden. Listen out for the cartoon German reaction to Bobics headed goal in the commentary of this one. 7.01pm BST Double wahey! Ireland are victorious too! Aiden McGeady got their winner in the 90th minute to beat Georgia. Hit, son. 6.57pm BST Wahey! Northern Ireland have won! A couple of goals in the last ten minutes from Aidan McGinn and Kyle Lafferty have secured a 2-1 success against Hungary in Budapest. Their first success on the road in four years, apparently.Incidentally, mention of Lafferty affords the opportunity to share the assessment of him by Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini, in explaining his sale to Norwich earlier this year: Lafferty is sold as a result of a precise request from my coach Beppe Iachini. He is an out-of-control womaniser, an Irishman without rules. He is someone who disappears for a week and goes on the hunt for women in Milan. 6.52pm BST Po Scotland.3 - Scotland have faced the World Cup holders in their last 3 European Championship qualifying groups (ITA 2008, ESP 2012, GER 2016). Test. 6.50pm BST Incidentally, those benches are right as per the UEFA website. Scotland have named 12 subs, Germany just seven, two of which are goalkeepers. Jogi Löew taking his Pep Guardiola copying to a new level, there. 6.46pm BST Neuer (C); Rudy, Boateng, Höwedes, Durm; Kramer, Kroos; Müller, Reus, Schürrle; Götze.Subs: Zieler, Weidenfeller, Ginter, Rüdiger, Grosskreutz, Sam, Podolski. 6.45pm BST Theres something approaching optimism surrounding the Scotland team at the moment. Thats perhaps partly down to the impending conscious uncoupling with auld pals/historic oppressors England (incidentally, the news that the Queen is apparently in favour of the Union is a shocker, innit?), but also because the football team is in danger of actually being decent, after some years of being...well...not so much. Steven Naismith is suddenly a pretty decent Premier League player, Darren Fletcher is back and badder than ever after properly recovering from those utterly brutal-sounding stomach problems, Ikechi Anya is one of the most fun players to watch you could wish for, on the basis that the Premier League is under such constant scrutiny that its difficult to find a genuinely underrated player there, Craig Bryson is quite possibly the most underrated player in England, theyve got three pretty decent goalkeepers and Chris Martin has spent the last couple of seasons merrily bagging goals left, right and quite literally centre. 6.45pm BST Nick will be here shortly. In the meantime, heres Ewan Murrays preview: Now for the real stuff. As Gordon Strachan will readily admit, the improvement in Scotland under his management is partly offset by only being visible in friendly matches and a World Cup qualification section that had degenerated into dead-rubber territory by the time of his appointment.On Sunday night in Dortmund, Scotlands latest bid to end a wait for a major finals appearance, which stretches back to 1998, begins and Germany, the world champions, will not provide a smooth European Championship start. Continue reading...
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