The most Scottish thing about it is that even though they’ve been eliminated from the tournament, things can still get even worse for Steve Clarke, his players and the Tartan Army. Spain beating Albania is far from unthinkable. Italy beating Croatia is far from unthinkable. Portugal beating Georgia is far from unthinkable. Denmark beating Serbia is far from unthinkable. Turkey beating the Czech Republic is far from unthinkable. And England thrashing Slovenia is – look, go with us on this one – far from unthinkable. And if all those far from unthinkable things happen, Scotland will have to deal with the unimaginable torment of knowing that drawing with Hungary would have been enough to get them through to the Euro 2024 knockout stages with only two points. Of course the most implausible outcome in the scenario outlined above was always going to be Scotland drawing against Hungary, so it was no great surprise to see Kevin Csoboth wheeling away in celebration after firing home their winner in the ninth minute of time added on after the dreadful injury suffered by Hungary’s Barnabás Varga, who is reported to be OK and is expected to make a full recovery. Of course it needs to be said that the only thing more Scottish than Scotland qualifying for the last 16 of a major football tournament with only two points, is Scotland somehow failing to secure that all important second point despite being deadlocked in their final group game with less than 60 seconds of the designated added time to play. But this is Scotland and that’s where they found themselves after conceding a late, late, late goal on the break. In doing so they officially became the first team to exit the tournament, and the 12th Scotland team to fail to make it out of the group stages of a big summer jamboree in a dozen attempts. Needless to say, there were post-match tears and recriminations, with assorted Scots wailing and gnashing their teeth over a spot-kick they felt should have been given for what they saw as a clear Willi Orbán foul on Stuart Armstrong in the Hungary penalty area. Sadly, their pleas went unanswered as Argentinian referee Facundo Tello waved away protests, while his curtain-twitchers in the Uefa equivalent of Stockley Park elected not to stick their collective neb in. “It’s a penalty,” said an infuriated Clarke after the game. “I do not know for the life of me why that is not given.” Upon being asked if he’d enquired of the referee why Scotland had not been given the spot-kick they felt they’d deserved, Clarke replied that he had not, in the strongest possible terms. “He’s from Argentina,” he snapped. “How would I ask him? He probably doesn’t speak the language. I don’t know. Why is he here? Why is it not a European referee?” While Clarke’s obvious frustration was understandable, Euro 2024 Daily can reveal that he could have asked Mr Tello for an explanation in Spanish, Portuguese or English and would have almost certainly got a response in any of the three different lingos. Having been a credit to themselves and their country as they soundtracked Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart with their pipes, drums and laughter, Scotland’s fans can now go home and focus on rowing in behind their Welsh and Irish brethren in their support of the mighty Slovenia. |