Scotland’s Euro 2024 rivals reveal plans to adopt a whole new ball game

GERMANY boss Julian Nagelsmann has revealed his secret weapon to beat Scotland in the opening Euro 2024 showdown…he wants his players to copy his country’s basketball team.

And the manager has admitted that German football is ‘on the rocks’ ahead of the Euros and has ordered his players to get back to basics to beat Steve Clarke‘s side and progress in their own tournament.

3

3

Scotland face the hosts in a glamour European Championships opening game showdown.

Germany were boosted this week when 34-year-old Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos announced he would come out of international retirement after three years for the Euros.

But they won just three out of 11 games last year and Nagelsmann will turn to an unusual motivational method by urging his men to look at another sport and copy their national team who won the Basketball World Cup last year by beating Serbia in a huge shock in the final.

And he’s warned his players they are nowhere near the feared Germany of old.

Nagelsmann said: “I will tell my players to study our basketball team.

“They did an outstanding job by winning their World Cup and every player knew exactly where they stood. They knew what they had to do and what others had to do.

“That’s exactly what I want. Teamwork.

“Look, the German team has been on the rocks for many years. We have to be realistic.

“There has been nothing realistically that suggests we could reach the semi-finals.

“I believe if we reached the quarter finals, we could view the tournament as a success.

“We have to stop thinking about status. We tell ourselves that Germany is a top football nation, even though we have been experiencing failures for years.

“This is not how you get back on the road to success. We finally have to start working on football again.

“We have to change our mentality completely and that will mean that one or two players who people seem to think will definitely be in the squad for the Euros, won’t be.”

Meanwhile tournament organisers Uefa have been stunned by Scots snapping up hospitality packages in their droves for the summer‘s big kick-off.

Tournament director Martin Kallen smashed the age-old reputation of spendthrift Scots by revealing Tartan Army fans have bought more than anyone else.

Scotland open the competition this summer with a glamour showdown against the hosts in Munich on Friday June 14.

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page