Scotland’s historic Euro qualification sparks wild celebrations
glasgow — Scotland fans sang on the streets, played bagpipes and flouted strict Covid-19 pandemic restrictions by gathering in a group and climbing a statue in Glasgow after the national football team qualified for a first major international tournament since 1998 on Thursday by beating Serbia to reach Euro 2020.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was one of the first to react to Scotland’s 5-4 win on penalties in Belgrade, using her Twitter account to repost a video of herself celebrating the defeat of a political rival in the United Kingdom’s parliamentary elections in December last year.
“Massive congratulations to (manager) Steve Clarke and the team,” Sturgeon wrote after tweeting a string of Scottish flags. “After 22 years, @ScotlandNT men are off to a major tournament. What a lift for the country. Well done!”
Ryan Christie put Scotland in front early in the second half in the rain in Belgrade, but Luka Jovic’s 90th-minute header sent the match into extra time and, with no
more goals scored, a shoot-out was required.
The Scots kept their cool, however, with five perfect penalties and their celebrations started
when goalkeeper David Marshall saved from Aleksandar Mitrovic.
In the town centre of Falkirk in central Scotland, where indoor gatherings between households
are prohibited due to Covid-19 restrictions, fans cheered and sang the unofficial national anthem “Flower of Scotland” on the streets until the early hours of Friday.
In Glasgow, a group of around 50 fans were filmed celebrating the win by climbing a statue in George Square in the city centre shortly before midnight.
The video, published by newspaper The Herald, showed people embracing and singing songs such as “We’ll be coming down the road” and “We’ve got Steve Clarke”, in reference to Scotland’s manager.
“I understand that they’re young and want to celebrate Scotland qualifying for their first major tournament in 22 years — but we need to adhere to the guidelines,” a witness told the newspaper. In Edinburgh, the Scottish Sun newspaper showed a video of shirtless men dancing and singing on a rooftop, with one of them playing the bagpipes.
Meanwhile in the north of Scotland, where Covid-19 restrictions are less strict, groups were allowed to gather in pubs to watch the game but had to clear out before the 10:30 pm (2230 GMT) cut-off, which was just five minutes after the penalty shootout.