Ally McCoist suggested that he was so impressed by what he saw Kai Havertz do in the first-half as the Arsenal star helped Germany reach the quarter-final of Euro 2024.
The tournament hosts have booked their ticket to the last eight, with a 2-0 win over Denmark in Dortmund. It was Kai Havertz who broke the deadlock with a penalty during the second-half.
Havertz will not be entirely happy with his performance in the victory, as he missed a couple of very good chances for Julian Nagelsmann’s men. But he definitely showed flashes of his class during the game.
And there was one moment in the opening 11 minutes when Havertz nearly emulated Robin van Persie with a volley across the goal as he latched onto a perfect long ball from Antonio Rudiger.
Ally McCoist praises Kai Havertz in Germany win
If you were being incredibly critical, you could argue that Havertz could have possibly caught the ball a little cleaner, but it still caused some real problems for Kasper Schmeichel, who just about managed to deflect the ball around the post, with his chest seemingly having to get in the way.
And speaking on ITV (broadcast on 29/6; 20:10), Ally McCoist was full of praise for Havertz’s attempt.
“That’s brilliant, he just spins into that area, doesn’t he; Joachim Andersen, he goes right side of him because Alexander Bah’s too far out and that’s the gamble,” he said.
“Technique’s great, and you know something, he gets a little bit lucky the goalkeeper, it comes off his chest in the end.”
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Havertz is just one of those players who can seemingly go from the sublime to the ridiculous in a split second, with some of his work showing exactly why Mikel Arteta brought him to Arsenal last summer, while other moments probably leave Gunners fans imploring Edu to find another striker.
That volley was very nearly one of those goals which immediately write their way into European Championship folklore. It was not Marco van Basten, but it would have been very special had it beaten Schmeichel.
Havertz would display more of his composure in the second-half, putting his penalty right in the bottom corner to give Germany the lead. It needed to be precise with Schmeichel guessing the right way.