This may sting Steve Clarke more than Scotland’s humbling at the hands of Germany to open Euro 2024. Events in Zagreb might hurt the Scotland manager more than the insipid loss to Hungary that ended involvement in the same competition.
With the Scots so desperately in need of hope, they believed they had snatched a 95th-minute equaliser in the Croatian capital. Clarke celebrated in a manner far from typical for a man of his stoicism. Enter the video assistant referee, who determined Ché Adams was offside before his shot flicked off Kristijan Jakic and into the net. It was the final act of the game and the latest dent to Clarke’s morale. The extending of a run to one win in 15 would have been gleefully accepted had Adams’s intervention stood. Scotland arguably deserved a draw. All of this felt irrelevant as the bones of another defeat were being picked through. They remain without a point in Group A1 and winless in nine competitive outings.
