Someone within Hampden Park had the temerity to blast Freed From Desire over the public address system at full time. A song normally reserved for euphoric moments only just drowned out the jeers that met a Scotland victory. People just want more and more? Too right they do.
Steve Clarke and his players edged closer to the World Cup with this win. It was just that a return to that scene for the first time since 1998 felt a million miles away as the Scots limped and laboured past Belarus. “We know we have got to be better, man,” admitted Scott McTominay. The Napoli midfielder was even more profound as he scored Scotland’s second; latter word “me” and the first a rhyme with “duck.” McTominay’s lack of celebrations perfectly depicted Scotland’s messy night.
Clarke is fiercely protective of his squad. To the Scotland manager’s credit, he refused to sugarcoat what played out here. A clearly furious Clarke was withering in his criticism. “I am really, really disappointed,” he said. “As disappointed as I have been during 72 games in charge. We just didn’t turn up. The performance was way below par. It is head-scratching.” Perhaps, yet it must be remembered Scotland were outplayed even in beating Greece on Thursday.
There is a caveat and an important one. Scotland’s overall qualifying position is strong. They have taken 10 points from a possible 12. “The players know what my feelings are but I have great faith in them, I trust them completely,” Clarke added. “I am very confident they will be in a much better place next month. They have never let me down before and I am confident they will not next month.”
Amid the bad vibes, Denmark’s win over Greece in Copenhagen meant Scotland have secured at worst a World Cup playoff berth.
Yet so many questions were raised by this Scottish showing. They were unconvincing in defence, lacking authority in midfield and woefully ponderous in attack. A capacity crowd, who arrived for a box-ticking exercise, grew increasingly edgy. Should Scotland progress to the World Cup and produce anything remotely approaching this, they will be also-rans.
Belarus, the 100th-ranked team in the world and a side knocked for six at home by Denmark three days earlier, were the more fluent for concerted spells. The visitors managed 22 shots on goal, were denied a second-half equaliser by a debatable VAR intervention and had the Scots clinging on for dear life by the end.
“In my opinion we deserved to at least draw this game,” said the Belarus coach, Carlos Alós. Not even those with tartan lenses on their specs could argue.
There had been warning signs for Scotland in the opening exchanges. It was just that nobody bothered to heed them. Scott McKenna had to scramble away a teasing German Barkovskiy cross, Kenny McLean had to block Evgeni Yablonski’s shot and Pavel Zabelin sent a free header over the Scotland bar – all within 11 minutes. Ché Adams slamming home with his left foot after collecting a Jack Hendry pass for the opener – although it was originally ruled out for offside and needed a VAR review to stand – should have settled nerves, but Clarke cut an agitated figure for the remainder of the first half. Ben Gannon-Doak, Scotland’s bright young forward hope, was guilty of poor decision-making time and again.
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Scotland believed they had won a penalty for a handball by Yegor Parkhomenko, only for Adams to be penalised for the same offence in the lead-up. The 63rd minute brought an even more crucial intervention by officialdom. Yevgeny Malashevich spun off Andy Robertson, met Barkovski’s cross and flicked beyond Angus Gunn. The Romanian referee Marian Barbu decreed upon second glance that McTominay was fouled on the halfway line as Belarus snatched possession. It was a borderline call and an embarrassing scenario for the Scots to be in. “If that stands, I am not sure we would have got ourselves back in front,” said Clarke later. Alós refused to make an issue of the decision.
McTominay has been well short of his best throughout this Scottish campaign. He did, however, allow his country breathing space after Aleksandr Martynovich failed to clear Robertson’s cross from the Scotland left. Anyone who anticipated Clarke’s men easing over the line from there was to be swiftly dissuaded from that notion.
The final act of the night, quite rightly, belonged to Belarus. Robertson was left for dust by Hleb Kuchko in the sixth added minute of eight. He finished smartly underneath the advancing Gunn. Clarke dismissed the sense that nerves played a part in Scotland’s approach. In fact, he swatted aside any potential excuse floated towards him. “Maybe I’ll go back to the hotel and have a quiet beer,” said Scotland’s manager. It was a night for more than one. Scotland must hope this is a game they never require to speak of ever again.
