By T. Jayani, JadeTimes News
At the end, Steve Clarke lingered at the edge of his technical area, resembling a man surveying a disaster scene which, in many ways, it was. Angus Gunn lay flat on his back in his own box. Jack Hendry knelt near the halfway line. Others were bent over, hands on knees or heads in hands.
A few just stood there, motionless stunned, sickened, sucker punched, and eliminated from Euro 2024. Once again, the footballing gods have played their cruel game with Scotland, a game that never seems to grow old. We were deep into added time when disaster struck. Scotland's desperation was palpable. They seemed to be playing with ten strikers. Gunn had to be ordered to retreat at one point to avoid a formation that resembled 0-0-11.
They had a huge penalty appeal denied when Stuart Armstrong was taken down in the box. Clarke was furious afterward, but some of his comments about Argentinian referee Facundo Tello were ill advised, bringing nationality into it unwisely. The VAR official was Spanish, but Clarke didn't criticize Alejandro Hernandez with the same vigor. It was all quite grim.
Scotland needed a break because their overall play was inaccurate and unthreatening same old story. In the 97th minute, they finally had a shot on target, though it was questionable due to a possible offside. Grant Hanley had that chance, a close range curler slapped away by Hungary’s goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
The loose ball fell to Callum McGregor, but a heroic block denied him a close range shot. Would the flag have gone up if the ball had found the net? Possibly. And you know the rest. A late blow to the solar plexus. In Scotland's epic quest for a place in the knockouts of a major tournament, the outcome is always the same.
The only thing that changes is the year and the city where the horror unfolds. Hungary counter attacked. Naturally, they did. Scotland was short on numbers. Of course, they were. A team that had struggled to create coherent attacking play all night suddenly turned into the Mighty Magyars of the 1950s.
They were ruthless. When the ball fell to Kevin Csoboth, who had hit the post just minutes earlier, you closed your eyes and waited for the Hungarian roars, which came with ear splitting intensity. In that moment, even the faint hope of qualifying with two points from third place was snatched away.
The hope of other group results allowing Clarke’s team to advance with two draws, an astonishingly low number of shots on target, and no goals scored directly by one of their players vanished in the Stuttgart night. The bitter truth is that Scotland had tons of possession but not nearly enough creativity to do anything significant with it.
Their xG at halftime a stultifyingly dull half, it must be said was 0.00. By full time, it had barely crept up to 0.13. Hungary's was 1.02. Not exactly Puskas level, but enough for them and too much for Scotland.
They suffered the distressing loss of striker Barnabas Varga 20 minutes from the end. Varga was injured in a collision and immediately surrounded by players, medics, and a protective screen before being stretchered away. It was a chilling moment that roused his teammates.
They created some chances, hit a post, and started to look slightly better than the mundane lot they had been before. No wonder they celebrated wildly at the end. Varga, you'd imagine, was uppermost in their minds as they whooped and hollered in victory. Sport’s contrasting fortunes were starkly evident on the pitch. Joyful delirium at one end and utter despair at the other.
Later, the skirl of the bagpipes echoed among the Tartan Army. Beaten but unbowed. The bagpipes a versatile instrument. Before kickoff, they skirled in exultation, and at the end, they skirled in lament. There will be widespread dejection, but there should be a heavy dose of reality too.
The hope Scotland brought from Cologne and that draw with Switzerland to Stuttgart for the group finale was fragile. Everyone sounded optimistic, but it was heart ruling head, which is entirely understandable. It was belief based on 90 minutes against Switzerland, which was gutsy and a step up from the calamity in Germany, but still nowhere near the level seen in qualification.
Scotland entered this game with one win in 11. They were a team that did wonderfully to earn an invite to the big party but lost their way en route. Their stats for shots on target in this tournament are embarrassing no other word for it.
Hungary was no great shakes. The Scotland of March to September last year would probably have found a way to beat them. This predictable and plodding version could not. And that is a bitter truth they will regret for a very, very long time.