SCOTS ARE MADE OF STEEL
We showed immense courage to fight back in second-half thriller, says defender Hendry
THE metrics guys bringing Moneyball to the beautiful game have yet to come up with a way of measuring a team’s character.
But the xG — that’s expected guts, rather than goals — of this Scotland side would surely break all known statistical models.
Or, as Jack Hendry so succinctly puts it, these boys have ‘b **** of steel’. Who could argue with that?
None of the 50,000 fortunate enough to have been at Hampden for Saturday night’s nerve-shredding, wobble-inducing, wildly enjoyable victory over Israel would be inclined to disagree.
Nor would there be much dissent among the many thousands more who spent yesterday recuperating from the kind of emotional kicking that only supporting Scotland can provide, where waves of relief were mixed with huge dollops of heartfelt gratitude.
How lucky are we, as a nation of football fans, to be represented by such relentless warriors?
Let other countries ease their way through qualifying campaigns with barely a missed step. It must be terribly dull for them. No fuss, no drama. No thanks.
This is what our lads do. Fall behind inside five minutes when they desperately need a fast start. Commit the cardinal sin of conceding within moments of equalising.
Fluff a penalty on the stroke of half-time, make us sweat for a VAR verdict on a second equaliser, miss chances while giving up opportunities at the other end before finally, deep into time added on… ah, you know the rest.
To come back from so many painful blows, self-inflicted or otherwise, definitely says something about the spirit Steve Clarke has instilled in this squad. ‘We made it difficult for ourselves with the first-half performance — but we showed b **** of steel the way we came out in the second half and put in that kind of performance for the fans,’ said Hendry (below). ‘The fans have waited a long time to see something like that. And there’s nothing better than a last-minute winner. ‘I got a glance on it and just tried to put it into the area at the back post — and thankfully Scott (McTominay) was there to put it in. It was amazing. ‘The scenes at the end, growing up, that’s what you want to see from the home support. ‘Those are the kinds of moments you grow up dreaming about. And I’m so thankful for the fans being there, getting behind us — and getting us over the line.’ The audience certainly enjoyed the drama served up. Eventually. And the Tartan Army played their part. Clarke and his players all spoke about the thrill of a first Hampden full house since the 2-2 draw with England in June of 2017. They responded in kind, showing just how much representing the country means to them. However imperfect the performance, regardless of how baffling that first-half showing might have been to everyone, Clarke included, there’s something to be said for desire, drive and will to win. Hendry, whose head-flick on for McTominay’s winner was all about determination to beat his marker in a one-on-one physical tussle, admitted: ‘They scored from two set-pieces — and the way we conceded both of those set-pieces was really disappointing.
‘To score then concede in the manner we did was extremely frustrating. But I think it shows our character that we were able to come back from that, not let our heads go down too much.
‘The whole stadium was deflated after the second goal, so we had to go into the dressing room and pick ourselves up.
‘We knew we were the better team, we knew we were capable of beating Israel and it was important to keep that belief. In the second half, we showed that.
‘I think we were maybe over-complicating things in the first half, not doing what we’re good at — playing football and taking the game to them.
‘We know they have really good set-piece takers and they’re extremely dangerous at them.
‘But sometimes in football it’s about how you bounce back from that — and I think we bounced back in style.
‘I think everyone was better in the second half, getting on the ball, keeping it moving, playing at our tempo. That was important.’
Expressing a sort of fraternal admiration for one team-mate, in particular, Hendry spoke for many as he addressed the enigma that is Lyndon Dykes — a centre-forward capable of inspiring as well as infuriating.
‘It happens in football, players miss penalties and miss chances,’ said the Club Brugge star, with a nod to Dykes’ poor attempt to score from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time. ‘It’s how you bounce back. Lyndon showed great character to come back in style.’
Scotland were the better team at Hampden on Saturday. That’s not really up for debate. Once they got out of their own way and started playing to their strengths, moving the ball with real tempo, Israel looked distinctly uncomfortable.
Clarke’s men now head to the Faroes for tomorrow night’s stroll down Bad Memory Lane feeling confident that second place in Group F is within their grasp.
For Hendry, a player whose move from Oostende to Brugge saw him thrust into Champions League duty against the Paris SaintGermain front three of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi, a qualifier in Torshavn could feel like a step down.
He continued: ‘It was extremely important to get the result to maintain all the hard work we’ve put in, especially in Austria. We didn’t want to throw that away.
I’m so thankful for the fans getting us over the line. These are moments you dream of
‘We’ve two difficult away games and then a difficult game at home but it’s totally in our hands now, which is the position we wanted to put ourselves in.
‘Every game we go into, we have to adapt to circumstances. Tuesday will be a totally different arena and place, and we have to adapt to that. I’m sure with what we’re building in the changing room, we will do.
‘Personally, I’m on a trajectory at the minute and I want to keep it that way. I’ve a lot of work to do and a lot of improving to do.
‘These are exciting times for me — when I go back, we’ve got Man City in the Champions League.
‘I’ve learned so much in these past few games and hopefully that can continue and help the national team.’
These are exciting times, indeed, for a lot of the guys now firmly entrenched in Clarke’s first-choice starting XI. They’re involved in major campaigns with big clubs, chasing domestic goals and hoping to contend on the European stage. Next year’s World Cup in Qatar will also be pencilled into their calendars. On that note, FIFA have yet to reveal the official ball of the 2022 World Cup. If Scotland are involved, might we suggest something in stainless steel?