Steve Clarke insists Scotland were competitive at the World Cup - and that he did enjoy himself.
Qualifying as one of the best third place teams was always going to be the most realistic route, but the team fell short with a goal difference of minus three, plus two being the benchmark.
After edging past Haiti by a goal to nil in the first game, they then lost by the same scoreline to Morocco. Scotland were stuffy in that game but failed to offer much of a threat on the counter-attack.
They then arguably gave a reasonable account of themselves in possession against Brazil but shot themselves in the foot by conceding poor goals to lose 3-0.
The now former head coach says his team were in every game, admitting a lack of cutting edge in the final third.
Clarke had promised to enjoy himself at the finals and maintains that was the case despite his awkward post-match interviews.
Asked to reflect on the World Cup on the Scotland National Team YouTube channel, the 67-year-old said: "Brilliant. Brilliant. I said I was going to enjoy it. The coming out for the Haiti game with the the Scotland fans there in the thousands and my family in the stand was was just the best moment. So that was good.
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"The next two games were tough. We played difficult opponents. Morocco, Brazil, both of them can go really deep in the tournament, and and we competed with them. No matter what other people might say, we we competed. Both games were competitive. The Brazil game, we we allowed them to have the kind of game they wanted.
"They like to play on the counterattack. They like big spaces. We gave them that. We conceded the early goal. But we showed a lot of character and we we played some good stuff. We we we didn't find the the quality in the final third of the pitch, but I could maybe say that across the whole seven years, but we've always been chasing and trying to find that quality in the final third of the pitch. And I hope my successor manages to do that."
With players like Andy Robertson, John McGinn and Scott McTominay in or approaching their 30s, some have questioned how much longer they will go on at international level.
But Clarke has urged them to go again.
Discussing how far he has come with this group of players, he said: "Yeah, 100 per cent, really proud. But everybody keeps saying this this core group's finished. They're not finished yet. They're definitely not finished because they can all make it for Euro 2028 home Euros.
"And I look forward to sitting in the stand if the Scottish FA are good enough to give me a couple of tickets for the tournament. Sitting there watching the watching the boys play without the without the stress of being their head coach and and just watching and joining and hoping that this the next time they manage to do what nobody's ever done before for Scotland."
