Germany v Scotland incident at Euro 2024 incident may have silverlining for Watford: View | OneFootball

Euro 2024 began in dramatic fashion on Friday night, with hosts Germany sending out an early message with a 5-1 thrashing of Scotland.

It was a tough night for the Scots, and far from the start they would have wanted as they aim to progress beyond the group stages for the first time in a major international tournament.

Many of their squad will now need their confidence lifting, ahead of two huge games to come against Switzerland and Hungary, which could still secure their passage to the knockout stages.

One player who may need his confidence lifting more than most though, even if he may now not be able to play in those two remaining group stages games, is Watford defender Ryan Porteous.

Watford center-back had a Euro opener to forget

While no one connected with the Scotland team will look back on what happened fondly, it is Porteous who perhaps endured the most difficult night of all against Germany.

On the stroke of half-time, with the hosts 2-0 up, the Watford defender produced a reckless lunge as he attempted to stop Ilkay Gundogan following up on the rebound after an Angus Gunn save.

In doing so, Porteous caught the Barcelona man high on the ankle, and after a VAR review, the Germans were awarded a penalty and the defender shown a straight red card.

As a result, the Watford man will now be suspended for the clash with Switzerland and if deemed a serious enough offense, that could be upgraded to include the Hungary game as well.

Clearly, this is a long way from how Porteous would have wanted his Euros campaign to begin, and it will be tough for him to come back from that now, not least with the scrutiny he will face.

However, it could be argued that amid all that, there will be something of a minor positive for Watford to take, from what went on in that game on Friday night.

Watford may have Ryan Porteous consolation

Of course, nobody associated with a club will want to see one of their players struggle on the big stage in the way that Porteous did against Germany.

Indeed, many around Vicarage Road will undoubtedly be disappointed for the centre-back, although from a Watford point of view, they may at least be able to rest slightly easier over the summer.

It can often be the case that when players enjoy a successful and impressive spell at a major tournament such as the Euros, they will attract plenty of interest in the transfer window.

That doesn't feel likely for Porteous on the back of his mistake in Germany v Scotland.

Admittedly, it was a block he needed to attempt to make to try to prevent the hosts adding another to their tally.

The fact it went so badly wrong in such a key moment will not have done his stock any favours but that could be a boost for Watford.

Indeed, the fact this is how things played out for him in a situation like this, may instead make teams more hesitant about pursuing a deal for the 25-year-old this summer.

Given he has been a regular presence in the Hornets' side since his move from Hibernian back in the 2023 January transfer window, that may at least be something of a relief for Watford.

They can now be more confident about retaining the services of an important figure around Vicarage Road, which will also ensure they will not find themselves too short of options in that position.

That will mean they are not under quite as much pressure to recruit in that position over the rest of this summer's transfer window.

In turn, that ought to allow them to focus on other areas of the squad that may need strengthening more ahead of the new campaign.

With all of that in mind, it, therefore, seems that while Friday could not have gone much worse for Scotland or Porteous, it may at least have done Watford something of a favour in the transfer market.