STEVE Clarke today called for caution and calm in the wake of Scotland’s historic win over Spain at Hampden and stressed that qualification for the Euro 2024 finals has still not been secured.
The country rejoiced last night as a dream Scott McTominay double clinched a 2-0 triumph over the former World Cup winners and European Championship champions in Glasgow.
The richly-deserved victory sent Andy Robertson and his team mates three points clear of their revered opponents at the top of Group A and five in front of Georgia and Norway.
The top two teams in the section qualify automatically for the finals in Germany next year and Scotland, who beat Cyprus 3-0 at home on Saturday, are now in a strong position.
However, Clarke is wary of his charges, who take on Norway away and Georgia at home in June, getting carried away after just two fixtures despite their famous result over Luis de la Fuente’s side.
“You don’t qualify with six points,” he said. “There’s a long way to go.
"It (the Spain win) should certainly give the players a little bit more belief for when they come up against the top sides. That’s the last two number one seeds, Denmark in the World Cup qualification and Spain in this one, that have come to Hampden and left with no points.
“So that’s a step forward in what we are trying to do. But it’s very important to stay grounded. There is still a long way to go in the group and as we know to our cost that one game can cost you dearly.
“But it’s great for the fans. When you get that kind of atmosphere on the back of a big result it is great. Even into injury-time, you could feel the atmosphere building. It’s good for the fans. I’m sure they will have gone home with a smile on their faces and that is what we try to do every time.”
Clarke was proud of how Scotland acquitted themselves against the 10th placed team in the FIFA World Rankings and felt the outcome at the end of the 90 minutes by no means flattered his players.
“We’re really pleased with the performance,” he said. “That’s two good performances over the nine days we’ve been together. It was important to capitalise on the two home games as much as we could and we’ve managed to get maximum points.
“All the credit goes to the players. We had 16 players on the pitch and none of them let us down. The seven players in the stand were every bit as happy as everyone else was.
“We have a good group and we’re working hard to get better and better. Last night was a chance to put our mark on the group. We wanted to be competitive against a top team.”
Clarke added: “We knew it would be a night when Spain would have a lot of the ball, so it was important that when we had it we had to capitalise on the moments. We did that. If you look at the statistics, they were very similar in terms of shots at goal, shots on target.
“We got a little bit fortunate when their defender slipped (for the first goal), but we capitalised on the moment. It’s very important that if the opposition make mistakes you capitalise on it against the top sides.”
De la Fuentes made no fewer than eight changes to the side which took to the field in their 3-0 win over Norway in Malaga on Saturday night – but Clarke was still impressed with the visitors and was proud of how Scotland dealt with them.
“I wasn’t disappointed with Spain,” he said. “I think they tried to play the way they normally play. We have to credit our team because we had an idea of what to expect from them. We closed the spaces well out of possession and we capitalised very well when we had the ball. We knew we would have to do that.
“It wasn’t an easy game. I have spoken to a lot of the players and they are very tired mentally and physically. You have to think a lot against Spain because the movement is good. The way they play is very clever. I think last night was just our night so we look forward to the rematch in October.”
Asked if it was his greatest result as Scotland manager, Clarke said: “I haven’t had time to think about it to be honest. I am still digesting what happened on the pitch.
“I will go away and have a couple of quiet days and then decide which my best one is. I’ll probably put it in my book at the end of my career so you won’t be getting that one off me!”
