Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SPOTLAND THE BRAVE
Scots in Euro finals after shootout glory
SCOTLAND’S braves did it the hard way as they marched into the European Championship finals with an incredible display of courage and resilience.
David Marshall was the hero as he saved the final penalty in the tensest of shoot-outs to give his nation victory and the ultimate prize of a place alongside England in Group D at the finals next summer.
But the entire Scotland side were truly heroic as they somehow recovered from the cruellest of blows of conceding a Serbia equaliser in the very last minute of normal time.
Marshall typified their steely mentality, as he produced a stunning save in extra time from a vicious swerving Nemanja Gudelj shot to somehow get his country to that heart-stopping penalty drama at the end.
And with Scotland scoring all five of their penalties, it left the Derby goalkeeper with the chance to produce a moment of history, and he didn’t disappoint, with a brilliant save from Serbia’s goalscoring machine Aleksandar Mitrovic.
There was an agonising second, as the keeper looked over to the referee for confirmation that the save was allowed by VAR’S scrutiny, and then an explosion when the whistle went to confirm the victory, which saw the Scots swarm him in the goal.
And afterwards he admitted he was close to tears at such a seismic result, which will give the whole nation a lift, and deliver a first major finals for Scotland since 1998.
Marshall said: “To come back the way we did after that goal at the end, and I am just lost for words how the l ads came through that pressure.
“We were down but Robbo (Andy Robertson) was speaking at the end, and it just changes everything. I don’t know how we’ve done it, but we deserved it.”