Steve Clarke’s Scotland doing their best to reverse years of hurt with Spain victory
Scotland secured a monumental scalp with their victory over Spain at Hampden on Tuesday night.
Scott McTominay’s dream double sank the Spaniards and took Steve Clarke’s men to the top of their Euro qualifying group.
The Manchester United star had the best week in his career so far after bagging another brace against Cyprus at the weekend.
March’s successful international break puts the side in pole position to qualify for back-to-back European Championships.
But the manager has erred on the side of caution, stressing that you don’t make it to any tournament with just six points.
And that’s why he’s the man to take us to qualification glory once again, and his level-headed efficiency has boiled down to his playing squad.
Fans will know all too well how much glorious failure has played a part in the history of the Dark Blues and the team must learn from the mistakes of the past.
Cast your mind back to the side’s attempt to make the Euros in 2008. They contested a group of death with both Italy and France—the two teams which contested the previous World Cup final.
Under the stewardship of Walter Smith and then Alex McLeish, the Scots produced a miraculous double over Les Bleus with 1-0 victories home and away.
However, in the end, these triumphs proved meaningless as an infamous trip to Georgia ended in a shock 2-0 defeat.
This loss, attributed to players donning a changed claret strip, left the team with an uphill battle which they eventually lost in typically heartbreaking fashion.
A valiant late defeat to Italy, when the odds were already against them, was the final nail in the coffin.
And in an act of history repeating itself, the Georgians are once again in Scotland’s group, as are an Erling Haaland -inspired Norway side.
They will also face a Spanish outfit out for revenge in a reverse fixture in October.
Luis de la Fuente’s side were not best pleased with the competitive playing style of their opponents during the match at Mount Florida. His captain, Manchester City midfielder Rodri, well and truly spat the dummy out, describing Scotland’s tactics as “rubbish”.
In what reeked of sour grapes the 26-year-old said after the defeat: “It’s the way [Scotland] play, but for me it’s rubbish, always wasting time, provoking you, always they fall. For me, this is not football.”
Whilst his remarks were blown out of proportion—and downright hypocritical given the antics of some of his teammates—it was good to see Scotland finally fighting fire with fire and employing the dark arts.
Clarke set up his team to impose themselves on the game physically, within the rules, which gave them a platform for success.
Any neutral watching could see that there were no dirty tactics on show, just effective gamesmanship and know-how from the hosts.
Successful teams on the continent have been seeking to gain any advantage they can get for years.
A once-naïve Scotland are finally catching up and the manager must take immense credit for making the nation a force to be reckoned with on the international scene once more.
The former Killie gaffer has also revigorated the relationship between the Tartan Army and their heroes.
Adam Binnie from PLZ Soccer said: “In my lifetime, I haven’t seen such a bond between those on the terraces and those on the field and that is largely down to the impact of Steve Clarke’s coaching. It really has brought the love back to the national team.
“As he said himself, you don’t qualify with six points, but this is a massive step towards proving just how far we really have come.
“We’ve seen Scotland play well against big nations before, but now we’ve recorded a victory against a top side this really shows we can compete with the best in the world and we can take care of Norway and Georgia.
“I’ve spent some time with the players in and around training, it feels like a family, almost like a club atmosphere.
“There were cliques before, certain people wouldn’t get on because ‘he plays for Rangers’ or ‘he plays for Celtic’.
“Everyone now seems to get on and that’s largely down to the consistency in selection from Steve Clark. There’s very rarely many new players.
“Lots of players are getting numerous caps now into the 30s and 40s and that continuity has helped create a strong bond between the players.”
