RODRI and Spain’s armada of superstars couldn’t manage it. Even Europe’s top marksman, Erling Haaland, couldn’t do it. But Scotland’s momentum in their European qualifying campaign was almost stymied at last by that most formidable of foes: the Scottish weather.
The heroes of the hour at Hampden weren’t just in dark blue, though goalscorers Callum McGregor, Scott McTominay and captain Andy Robertson – who continually geed up his teammates throughout a seemingly interminable delay to proceedings – were indeed worthy of praise.
No, the real Scottish supermen at the national stadium were six men armed with nothing but brooms - soon joined by a squadron of ballboys - who slaved away for the best part of an hour and three quarters, slopping water off the pitch like passengers on a boat holed below the waterline ditching bucketloads overboard in a frantic attempt to save their stricken craft.
A monstrous downpour that dumped down on Hampden prior to kick-off just would not shift from the surface, lending the opening stages of the game a comical edge. Players slipped and splashed around in the general vicinity of the ball, which stuck in the turf and performed with all the reliability of the rugby variety.
We managed six minutes before referee Istvan Vad led the players from the sodden surface. Though in fairness, there was a fair bit of action packed into it.
There was a huge early scare for the Scots as Saba Lobjanidze hit a curling low effort that Angus Gunn was watching drift harmlessly wide, before the ball suddenly slowed and veered dangerously close to the goal.
Then, as the early waves of Scotland attack lapping on the Georgian backline produced a corner, the hosts made the breakthrough.
John McGinn’s centre was knocked down by Lyndon Dykes, with McGregor reacting fastest arriving right on cue to force the ball into the back of the net, squirming through the grasp of goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili like the proverbial bar of soap.
The Scottish supporters booed a delay to the restart due to a VAR check. If only they knew what was coming.
As many around Hampden feared, the players were ordered from the flooded field as it was announced the game would be suspended for 20 minutes to allow the ground staff to attempt to clear some of the surface water. Much in the same way that the first lockdown at the start of the Covid pandemic was to last three weeks.
There were loud cheers as our six broom-wielding warriors emerged onto the pitch, but then apprehension as it quickly became apparent that they would need a miracle almost on a scale as biblical as the downpour that started all the trouble to get the game back on.
As the sabbatical stretched on, another hero on the Hampden staff was the resident DJ, the fans joining in with a rendition of Travis hit ‘Why Does it Always Rain on Me?’ and other topical tunes like the Black Eyed Peas number ‘Let’s Get it Started’.
So, the Scots were keeping their sense of humour, but it wasn’t long before it turned into a sense of frustration as the Georgians revealed themselves to be the only ones inside Hampden who weren’t entirely desperate to have the match restarted.
In fact, they clearly weren’t keen on it at all, with captain Guram Kashia in the referee’s ear as he performed one of his inspections and vividly expressing his displeasure at the prospect of a resumption of hostilities.
Cue pantomime booing from the crowd, with the intransigence of the visitors riling up both the Scottish fans and players, with Robertson in particular seeming to invite his opposite number to keep his opinions to himself. Though perhaps in rather stronger language.
Finally, a huge roar went up as it was announced the match was to restart at five to nine, but when the time arrived, the Georgians did not. We now seemed to have a repeat of the infamous ‘one team in Tallinn’ evening, with the visitors refusing to leave the dressing room.
After double and then triple checking the pitch, the officials eventually told them they had no other choice, and an ovation that rivalled the one when McGregor found the net went up all around the national stadium as finally, just past 9.30pm, the game got back underway.
Curiously though, the atmosphere then fell flat. Perhaps all the hanging around had invited a few hangovers to kick in, or a few of the younger members of the Tartan Army were flagging as their bedtime came and went before the first half was out.
But Hampden was not the crackling bear pit that the Georgians had seemed spooked by when the game kicked off the first time around. The biggest oohs and aahs came when the ball skidded under someone’s foot, with the fans fearing we might not get through the 90 minutes after all. In fact, Scotland were denied an almost certain goal as one of the remaining pesky puddles stopped the ball just as McGinn looked set to stroke home from the centre of the box.
Still, at least we had a game. And soon after half time, we had yet another McTominay goal, a brilliantly taken low shot from the edge of the area for his fifth in four games of this campaign.
There was a scare in stoppage time as Aaron Hickey was penalised for a handball in the area, but Napoli wonderkid Khvicha Kvaratskhelia blazed over from the spot. When you're on a wave, as Steve Clarke said at the weekend, you've just got to ride it.
Not even the Scottish summer rain, it seems, can stop Clarke and his Scotland bandwagon from rolling on.
