There are few nations as fond of compound words as Germany, but it remains to be seen if their latest creation will catch on.
In the hours after the Euro 2024 hosts had demolished Scotland 5-1 in the tournament's opening game, the term “Wusiala” was coined on social media to describe the stunning double threat of wingers Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, both 21, who had run amok at the Allianz Arena.
“I have no problem with it,” grinned Musiala, when the term was put to him ahead of Wednesday night's second Group A game, against Hungary at the Stuttgart Arena.
The Hungarians will no doubt be hatching a plan to try and contain the dynamic young duo, both of whom found the back of the net against the Scots. It was the first time two players aged 21 or under had scored for the same team in a European Championship game.
Musiala and Wirtz are already well known to German fans but nothing can enhance reputations like major tournament football − especially to a mainstream audience – and the wingers look set to be the faces of the national team for a generation to come.
One player from the previous era, Toni Kroos, backed the pair to continue tormenting defences. “They are players that you always have a bit of doubt about as a defender,” said the 34-year-old midfielder, who came out of international retirement for this tournament after a personal plea from manager Julian Nagelsmann.
“Should I go for them or not? If I go for them, there's always the danger they'll skip past me and I'll be standing there but the player is not.”
The Stuttgart-born Musiala grew up in England and spent time in the youth sections of both Fulham and Chelsea before choosing to represent Germany after signing with Bayern.
“It's not just football which connects us. We're the same age and have the same interests,” Musiala said of his relationship with Wirtz. “He can play table tennis pretty well, but I've got more quality in basketball. We combine well together.”
Wirtz, who won an unbeaten domestic double at Bayer Leverkusen this season as Musiala's Bayern finished without a trophy for the first time in 11 years, insists there's no hint of rivalry between the pair.
“It would not be healthy if we were trying to outdo each other,” Wirtz said. “Personally it doesn't matter to me who scores more goals.”
While the performances of the wingers – who flank Kai Havertz in an exciting and fluid frontline – have captured the German public's imagination, the return of Kroos as part of a midfield three alongside the imaginative Ilkay Gundogan and the spiky Robert Andrich, has fortified belief in a deep run at the tournament.
Next up is a Hungary team who came close to dumping the Germans out of the last Euros and also beat them 1-0 in the Nations League at the RB Arena in Leipzig in September 2022.
Consequently, the Hungarians were tipped for a good showing this summer, but then flopped in their opening game as they were outplayed in a 3-1 defeat to Switzerland.
Their Italian coach Marco Rossi says not to write off his side just yet, but accepts it will be difficult against a Germany team he feels are the favourites to go all the way.
“So, as of today it looks impossible but as we showed in the last Euros, we lost to Portugal 3-0 [in the opening game] but then drew with France and were six minutes away from qualifying for the last 16 at the expense of Germany,” Rossi said.
“But Germany are another team now and, not just because they won 5-1 against Scotland, I said in interviews before that in my opinion the Germans are the biggest favourites for the title.”
