The Tartan Army cheering on England? What a weird night
AT 8.22pm last night, Hampden Park witnessed a piece of history. A first in its century-plus of existence.
If anyone is in any doubt about the strange times we live in, the sound of the Tartan Army cheering an England goal should put them right. The year 2017 is weird. Plain weird.
It wasn’t a raucous noise, not in any way befitting of the Roar to which this ground gave its name. But it was there nonetheless. A little ripple of electricity that passed through a crowd unable to decide whether to concentrate on the game in front of them or check their phones.
It quickly morphed into a song of support for Scotland. Normality, if there is such a thing these days, had been restored.
Some veterans of Euro ’96 at Villa Park may well have joined in the Anglophile action. These were supporters who had to rely on radio — rather than 4G — the last time a favour from England was needed. They still bear the scars.
Learning that David Seaman had leaked a late goal to Patrick Kluivert — thereby denying Craig Brown’s side a quarter-final place — was almost torturous in its cruelty.
The fear was that something similar could occur again. Trailing to an early Slovakia goal, Eric Dier’s equaliser at Wembley had rekindled hope at Hampden. Anything but an England defeat would do. Standard tribal loyalties were being skewed by desperation.
With Malta being defeated, albeit in pretty perfunctory fashion, the bigger picture demanded attention. This time, our dear neighbours fulfilled their part of the bargain. There was another lift in the atmosphere 400 miles north of London when Marcus Rashford put Gareth Southgate’s team ahead.
Full-time left Scotland tied on 14 points with Slovenia in Group F, just one point behind the secondplaced Slovaks. The fight goes on into the final double-header. All is not yet lost.
These are dangerous emotions, of course. Followers of the national team are well used to having their belief built up — before being hammered down like one of those whack-a-mole arcade games.
The previous Hampden qualifier had been a premier case in point. Those two Leigh Griffiths free-kicks against England were actually replayed on the big screens ahead of kick-off last night. Harry Kane’s injury-time equaliser wasn’t. The way victory was tossed away has become one of Scottish football’s great ‘what ifs?’ Time will tell precisely how punishing it was in terms of reaching Russia 2018.
As it is, Gordon Strachan’s side have to summon the strength to find two more victories. After the power, pace and flamboyance of last Friday’s win over Lithuania, things were far more mundane against the Maltese. But the job got done. Two down. Two to go.
Slovakia’s appearance at Hampden on October 5 now has the makings of an epic evening. Victory would propel Scotland above their visitors. It would also provide the strongest evidence yet that this truly is a campaign transformed.
The performance Strachan’s side produced when losing 3-0 in Trnava last October wasn’t just bad. It appeared devoid of any belief or fortitude. The stats show Scotland had marginally more possession, and just as many shots, but the impact in both penalty areas was abysmal. Indecision in attack was partnered by hopeless fragility in defence. That combination can only produce one outcome.
In terms of personnel, the change since has been wholesale. Only two players who started that game — Kieran Tierney and James McArthur — did so again last night. It was far from vintage stuff here, but nor was there any unnecessary panic. It was something of an odd affair all round, with a sense of time being bided for greater challenges still to come.
In truth, Malta on a Monday was always going to be a hard sell. For all that remains at stake, the pre-match ambience almost had the listless feel of a campaign already done. Dank, drizzly conditions didn’t exactly pep up proceedings. Those who appeared early enough to push Hampden towards half-full granted the Strathallan School Pipe Band a polite smattering of applause.
Flower of Scotland was performed with duty, rather than gusto.
On evenings such as this, there is often talk of patience, of respect, of international football providing few opportunities to cut loose. Luxembourg’s incredible acquisition of a goalless draw against France the night before added credence to the argument. Mercifully, Scotland still treated it with contempt in their opening efforts.
Just as against Lithuania, they launched themselves at inferior opponents. There was no opportunity for the Maltese to settle into a comfortable defensive encampment in those early minutes. They were made to run. And run. And run.
Griffiths, McArthur and James Forrest had all seen attempts blocked before Malta conceded a corner-kick. Griffiths delivered deep with plentiful whip and Christophe Berra headed down and in to dispel any thoughts of disaster. Remarkably, it was the
first Hampden goal Scotland had scored in this campaign before the 87th minute. Late drama — joyful and heartbreaking — had become a theme. But no one needed nerves stretched against a team ranked 190th in the world by FIFA.
The dynamism so often absent in earlier Scotland performances fuelled that start — but it didn’t last. Thereafter things became pedestrian, even plodding at times.
Griffiths tapped in after the break to double the advantage and there it stayed. There wasn’t much more in the way of excitement. Even so, a similar scoreline would be absolutely perfect against Slovakia. To do so will require defensive discipline, tactical intelligence and unstinting concentration. Bluntly, we are talking about the best performance Scotland have produced at any point in this campaign.
Oh, and one more thing. Could Gareth and the boys please make sure they beat Slovenia on the very same evening? That would be perfect. Thanks lads, we’ll give you a cheer.