The Real Madrid star is a marauding matador, an all-rounder whose creative will lifted his teammates in Gelsenkirchen

With 28 minutes gone in Gelsenkirchen, Declan Rice headed a bouncing ball in the direction of Jude Bellingham, who waited and then did something extraordinary, arching his back and roundhouse‑pinging it across the pitch into the centre‑backs, with a sense in that moment of complete mastery of his craft, the day, this entire high‑stakes pursuit everyone else in here seems so anxious about.

It was the kind of pass you might attempt with a tennis ball against a classroom window, or while doing balloon keep-ups at Christmas; a pass to express the strange physical theatre of being in possession of such an excess of talent, even among the excessively talented.

Let’s rock! Germany’s players were clearly paying close and diligent attention to Julian Nagelsmann’s signoff at his pre-tournament press conference.

At the Munich Football Arena the hosts kicked off Euro 2024 with a kind of pomp-metal power surge, a first-half display that brought three goals, a red card for Ryan Porteous and evidence of how well Nagelsmann has rebalanced this talented German team.

It’s Gareth’s Conundrum: fail to win the Euros and he’ll be cast as a fraud; win and he’ll be jeered for not winning more

Fail again. Fail better. Or maybe, with a following wind and some luck, don’t fail at all. By now it probably won’t make much difference either way. Not when it comes to things such as legacy, impact and understanding the journey from there to here. Welcome to Late Gareth, the age of unreason.

As Gareth Southgate embarks on his fourth and surely final tournament as England manager, kicking off with Sunday’s understatedly tricky Euro 2024 opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, something else has become increasingly clear.

Swathes of the continent will attempt to pull together over four weeks around what should be a thrilling tournament

“We will be United In The Heart Of Europe. Over four weeks.” Looking back, it was probably wise of Uefa’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, to add that neat little disclaimer while announcing the official slogan of Euro 2024, to dial back just a touch the tournament’s contractual peace, love and unity obligations.

Three years on from the big unveil in Munich, Uefa is still out there shunning (some) despots, eradicating intolerance everywhere (apart from in major European football leagues) and reaching out with a single trembling hand, Michael Jackson-style, to lower the rifle barrel of the nearest infantryman. But only, let’s be clear on this, for the next four weeks. And we will have to insist everyone promises to keep their eyes fixed on the screen and closes their ears to the noises through the wall.

This summer is something else, a three-month run crammed with colour, drama, escapism. We’ll be there for every moment

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As the gloom of June gives way to the gloom of July, August and September, it is worth taking a second to consult the schedule. Because an unusually epic summer of global sport is well under way.

This is quite a thing. From Real Madrid’s triumph in the Champions League final at Wembley this month through to the women’s cricket T20 World Cup in October, we’re in the midst of a non-stop sporting bloom.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair, Lars Sivertsen and Barney Ronay to preview Groups C and D at Euro 2024

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On the podcast today; Group C. England’s group, could this be the year? Gareth Southgate has already made some big calls picking his squad of 26 - but who should England play in midfield? How do so many elite attackers find their way in? Will England have an available left-footed defender?

Euro 2024 in Germany will be a huge moment for arguably the Three Lions’ greatest player who turns 31 next month

Southgate in crisis. England in Euro flip‑flap flop. Kane: My (in hindsight) Sad and Doomed Trophy Hopes. Plus ça change, plus c’est the same bleeding thing all over again.

Whenever Harry Kane approaches a significant mark in his career it is always tempting to peer down the time tunnel in search of a poignant on‑this‑day‑style comparison. Jump back 10 years and Kane, more so than any other elite footballer, is likely to have been on the bench at AFC Egham or scoring a hat-trick against Bogford Cheesedown in the Copydex Industrial Sealants 37th‑tier playoff quarter-finals.