THE scenes inside Hampden during the Euro 2024 qualifier with Spain on Tuesday night will be seared into the subconscious of every Scot who was fortunate enough to be present forever.
Pedro Porro slipping on the sodden turf. Andy Robertson nipping in to pinch the ball off his hapless opponent. Scott McTominay running to the North Stand to celebrate his coolly-converted opener with the delirious and disbelieving Tartan Army. Ryan Christie bursting forward and shooting just wide.
Porro crashing to the deck as if he had been hooked by Tyson Fury after a nudge by Robertson. Lyndon Dykes chipping over the crossbar. Kieran Tierney breaking out of his own half and dancing past Dani Carvajal on the left touchline. McTominay ghosting in from nowhere and volleying beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga.
They are moments which will be remembered every bit as much as Jim Baxter playing keepie uppie against England at Wembley in 1967, the diving Joe Jordan header buried against Czechoslovakia in 1973, Archie Gemmill scoring his wonder goal against the Netherlands in Argentina in 1978 or James McFadden netting a long-range strike against France in Paris in 2007.
Steve Clarke, the man who masterminded one of the greatest results in his country’s history, will certainly look back on a 2-0 victory that sent his side three points clear at the top of Group A and increased their chances of automatic qualification for the finals in Germany next summer enormously with great satisfaction and no little pride in the coming days.
Yet, Clarke will by no means, unlike a fair few of his compatriots, bask in the afterglow of the Spain triumph for very long.
He is well aware that much work still remains to be done by Scotland if they are to achieve their ultimate objective. At the same time, though, he firmly believes that his charges can improve on their stunning midweek display. He is determined to make the night to remember the norm in future.
“I mentioned to the lads before the game that the media had wanted to speak to me about the match against Spain in 1984 (the last occasion Scotland had beaten their renowned rivals) at the press conference,” he said.
“I said: ‘That tells you that in 39 years’ time when you are all the same age as me and have kids and grandkids that people could still speak about you’. I am sure they will. But hopefully it isn’t another 39 years before we are speaking about it again. I am hoping that it is going to be surpassed by other big results against big nations.
“We are not so arrogant or so overconfident that we think it is going to happen all the time because you need to work very hard to get a result like that. We’re mindful of the fact that we’re improving, but we’re also mindful of the fact that we’re not the finished article. But we are trying to do that.”
The youth and inexperience of so many of the players who featured against Spain – Angus Gunn, Ryan Porteous, Aaron Hickey, Lewis Ferguson and Nathan Patterson have made just 33 international appearances between them – suggests the best is still to come from this Scotland side.
However, Clarke feels the elder statesmen in his squad have been crucial to the progress which has been made during his four year tenure and have big parts not bit parts to play in the remainder of this Euro 2024 qualifying campaign and beyond.
“We are trying to integrate the young ones,” he said. “I brought Patterson off the bench, I brought Ferguson off the bench. You are bringing in players who are gaining caps.
“But don’t forget Grant Hanley is approaching 50 caps. I handed out a 50 cap medal to Callum McGregor this week. John McGinn and Andy Robertson have got over 50 caps. Our squad had more international caps than the Spanish squad.
“Experience at this level is important. I spoke about it way back at the very beginning. Those players on the pitch with all the caps are helping the younger ones. It is great to see. Ryan was good last night. But beside him Grant was keeping him in check and pushing him around and moving him around. You can’t really single out anyone. I think everyone played their part.”
Clarke has overseen some huge victories since replacing Alex McLeish as Scotland manager in 2019 – wins over Israel, Serbia, Austria and Denmark were every bit as impressive and important - and feels his charges now have the belief and mentality which is required to succeed against elite nations as a consequence.
But he knows the Spain result is different and could have far-reaching ramifications in the months ahead.
“It’s vital that when teams come to Hampden they understand that they are going to get a difficult game whether they are a Pot Five team or a Pot One team,” he said.
“We have tried to do that consistently over the time. It didn’t happen at the start. Remember, Belgium and Russia both came here (in Euro 2020 qualifying) and put us in our place.
“I think slowly as you go along you start to believe a little bit more. Obviously going away to Austria was a pivotal moment. We went there and won 1-0 away from home. That was big. In the Euros, we have to be honest, we didn’t do so well. But we went to Wembley and got a big performance against England. These are all little steps.
“We beat Denmark here. But that was a game where we had qualified and Denmark had qualified. This one is slightly different because it comes at the start of the group when everyone is trying to put down the groundwork. So when November comes round you are playing games to qualify.
“It was important to get a little bit more belief in the squad and after last night there should be another level of belief. Hopefully we can continue that going forward.”
