Matthias Ginter, Florian Neuhaus and Jonas Hofmann will get their EURO 2020 campaign underway tonight as Germany take on world champions France (21:00 CEST).
Matthias Ginter made his debut for Germany nearly seven years ago in a 1-0 friendly win against Chile on 5th March 2014. Since then, he has been capped 40 times for his country and was part of the 2014 World Cup winning team as well as the 2018 World Cup squad. Ginter did not feature in either tournament. He then missed the 2016 EUROs because he was taking part in the Rio Olympics. Tonight, Ginter looks set to make his first appearance at a major tournament for Germany as they face France in their EURO opener (21:00 CEST). Should head coach Joachim Löw elect to play a back three again, Ginter will likely line up alongside Antonio Rüdiger and Mats Hummels. "Matthias is extremely reliable and does what you ask him to. The way he plays and contests challenges is great," said Löw.
Meanwhile, Florian Neuhaus and Jonas Hofmann will likely start on the bench, amid fierce competition a spot in the Germany midfield. Hofmann has also had to sit out with a knee wound over the last few days. "Jonas wouldn't still be here if we didn't believe that he will still be able to feature," said Löw.
Slovakia wins with Bénes on the bench
Laszlo Bénes and Slovakia beat Poland 2-1 in their first EURO group stage match in St. Petersburg. The 23-year-old, who was on loan at Augsburg for six months last season, did not feature. An own goal from Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny (18') opened the scoring before Karol Linetty (46') equalised. Milan Škriniar (69') then put Slovakia on course for victory. Next up, Slovakia will face Sweden (Friday, 18th June, 15:00 CEST) and Spain (Wednesday, 23rd June, 18:00 CEST).
