The European championship of 2024 is one month long across ten German cities although Scotland’s ambition does not extend much further than still being in contention come Thursday morning, when they could yet be preparing for a forlorn exit
How long were they a viable force in this tournament opener against the hosts? One might say conservatively, 20 minutes, although others would argue much less.
The noise of thousands of travelling fans in the corner of Munich’s great football stadium made the prologue to this game a great event and by half-time there was little more to be heard from them than the occasional mournful toot of the bagpipe.
By then they were three goals down and one man short after the dismissal of Ryan Porteous for an inarguably bad tackle on Ilkay Gundogan.
Steve Clarke had opted to start without Billy Gilmour in midfield and the defensive configuration he had established crumbled within 10 minutes when Florian Wirtz swept in the first.
The less said about Clarke’s goalkeeper Angus Gunn on that occasion the better, and things gradually went downhill from there.
Clarke will no doubt catch some heat for leaving out one of his more talented assets, in Gilmour, a Premier League player. Yet once Porteous went off, and with Germany hunting them down there was no hiding place. In Cologne on Wednesday, Scotland face Switzerland and they will be playing for their lives in a tournament they have fought so hard for in qualification.
Follow Us on Facebook – @LadunLiadi; Instagram – @LadunLiadi; Twitter – @LadunLiadi; Youtube – @LadunLiadiTV for updates
