Just nine days after kicking off Euro 2024, Scotland are packing their bags and are about to board the next flight home.
A strong qualifying campaign, which saw them claim the scalp of Spain, meant there was a great deal of excitement among fans that Steve Clarke’s men would break new ground.
But ultimately it’s same old Scotland as, as they’ve done in their 11 previous appearances at a major tournament, they failed to follow Del Amitri’s advice and are home far too soon having exited at the first hurdle.
Their exit came in particularly gut-wrenching circumstances as their 1-0 defeat to Hungary, the winning goal scored in the final seconds of stoppage time, extinguished any hope of a potential route to the last 16 with a third-placed finish in Group A.
The game could’ve gone either way, especially when it appeared Stuart Armstrong would be awarded a penalty, but in truth the campaign in Germany never truly got going for Scotland, and now the inquest begins.
talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham takes a look at where it all went wrong on Sunday night for the Scots as he rates the players as well as manager Clarke.
‘The tournament passed him by’
When experiencing failure a source of comfort can be taken if one knows they couldn’t have done any more in their attempts to succeed.
Sadly, this may not be the case for John McGinn. As arguably Scotland’s best all-round player, he struggled to impose himself on Sunday night as well as the previous two games like he does when playing for Aston Villa.
On McGinn, who was given a 3/10, a disappointed Durham said: “The tournament has passed him by sadly.”
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‘The main goal threat? Nah’
Just four shots on target in more than 180 minutes of football perfectly demonstrates where one of Scotland’s biggest problems lie.
You could argue it’s at least efficient from the Scots, having scored twice in the tournament, although one of them was an Antonio Rudiger own goal in their 5-1 humbling against Germany so won’t register as a shot on target.
The only Euro 2024 goalscorer in the Scotland ranks is Scott McTominay, who netted in the 1-1 draw against Switzerland, with Durham labelling the Manchester United midfielder as Scotland’s biggest attacking threat.
After saying striker Che Adams was ‘disappointing’, Durham said of McTominay, whom he scored 5/10: “The main goal threat? Nah.”
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‘The fans deserved more’
The players will be in for many sleepless nights as they wonder what might’ve been, as will manager Clarke.
Clarke has done a marvellous job of getting his country to Euro 2024 as well as the previous European Championship three years ago. However, he’s also overseen two bottom of the group finishes when it really mattered despite an excellent qualifying campaign that saw them beat Spain and an Erling Haaland-led Norway.
Scotland don’t carry the same expectations as England or the other of Europe’s big hitters, but Durham believes Clarke has to take responsibility for their early exit.
On the boss, Durham said: “He played for a clean sheet against Hungary and didn’t even get that. The fans deserved much much more from the manager and the team.”
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Scotland player ratings vs Hungary
Angus Gunn – 7/10
Anthony Ralston – 5/10
Andy Robertson – 5/10
Jack Hendry – 6/10
Scott McKenna – 6/10
Grant Hanley – 7/10
Callum McGregor – 5/10
Scott McTominay – 5/10
Billy Gilmour – 5/10
John McGinn – 3/10
Che Adams – 4/10
Stuart Armstrong – N/A
Lawrence Shankland – N/A
Captain Andy Robertson issued a heartfelt apology to all Scotland fans, whose optimism was a breath of fresh air to all those watching at home.
“Tonight and for a long time we have to get over this. It’s a tough one. It’s devastating,” he said.
“All the lads are absolutely gutted. I will say thank you to all the supporters; sorry for letting you all down.”
For the estimated 200,000-strong Tartan Army who arrived in Germany with such optimism, the party is over before it even started.
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