SCOTS DANE AND DUSTED!
Souttar and Adams pounce to stun group winners and secure Hampden play-off
IF Carlsberg did perfect nights for Scotland’s national team, they would look something very much like this. The most composed and mature performance of the Steve Clarke era was also the most rewarding by some distance. There will be no Tuesday night fretting over scores elsewhere and what they might mean for the seeding places in the World Cup play-offs. There will be no recriminations over bookings from a card-happy Spanish referee nudging players in dark blue shirts off a disciplinary tightrope.
In front of a sell-out and raucous Hampden, victory over the group winners and Euro 2020 semifinalists comfortably secured Scotland’s place amongst the six seeds in the play-off draw a week on Friday.
Clarke’s side now know they will play a one-off home game in Glasgow in March for a chance to claim an all-or-nothing crack at the World Cup finals in Qatar. And there is no probably about it.
Aiming to become just the third nation to win 10 out of 10 World Cup qualifying games after Spain and Germany, Denmark fell short after goals from Hearts defender John Souttar and the outstanding Che Adams.
It was the first time the national team have won six-in-a-row since 2007, and the first time in competitive games since 1930 when Hughie Gallacher was in his goalscoring pomp.
Had anyone suggested a scenario like this when the Scots were given the runaround in a humbling 2-0 defeat in Copenhagen at the beginning of September, they’d have been laughed out of town. The difference between the Scotland of then and now is a startling business.
The news of Italy’s slide into the play-offs alongside Portugal failed to remove the sheen from a night when Clarke’s side went toe-to-toe with a nation tenth in the FIFA rankings — 32 places above them — and won.
The pre-match fears over referee Alejandro Hernandez proved misplaced in the end. One of five players on the pitch who was one yellow card away from a play-off suspension, an injury for captain Andrew Robertson proved a bigger worry than a booking.
Without a failure, Scotland had heroes all over the pitch. Southampton striker Adams led the line magnificently, easing late nerves with a clinical fifth goal for Scotland in the final minutes.
And what of the opening goalscorer Souttar? The Hearts defender’s last appearance in a dark blue jersey was an occasion to forget for both him and for Scotland.
A red card on a chaotic night in Israel marked a three-year international wilderness for the player. The absence was lengthened by three ruptures of his Achilles tendon. But for bad luck, you sensed the Tynecastle player might have had none at all.
He was overdue some good fortune. Overdue his first goal for Scotland.
It came ten minutes before half-time. A series of John McGinn corners aimed at the back post hadn’t brought much joy. In their last nine qualifiers, Kasper Hjulmand’s Danes had conceded just one goal, against the Faroe Islands last Friday night.
Liam Cooper crept in at a congested back post to head McGinn’s probing corner back towards the penalty spot. Souttar was in the right place at the right time to guide the ball past the white shirts forming a Praetorian guard on the Danish line.
The defender ran towards the far corner, sliding to his knees in joy and celebration. Given his injury problems there was a time when that would have seemed like a dangerous, risky manoeuvre. A night when his composure marked him out as international material felt like the spinning of the wheel. The night when the ball finally landed on black instead of red.
Scotland deserved their half-time lead. They deserved their three points all round.
In Copenhagen, Clarke’s side were dead and buried after two goals in 90 seconds in the first 15 minutes of the game. With the group safely won, Hjulmand was missing some of his big hitters last night, but he still had Daniel Wass — the scorer of the opening goal two months ago.
He almost repeated the feat when he arrived late to meet a dinked Rasmus Kristensen cross, the ball hitting his thigh before drifting wide of Craig Gordon’s right-hand post.
Bit by bit, Scotland gained a foothold in the game, coming so close to the opening goal after 23 minutes.
Kasper Schmeichel shares his old man’s capacity to break opposition hearts and he was at it again when Ryan Christie battled to make Billy Gilmour’s intelligent low cross his, guiding the ball into the path of Adams. The striker placed the ball low towards the left-hand post of Schmeichel, the Leicester keeper brilliantly extending his left boot to block.
A lightning-quick Scotland counter-attack ended with Adams thumping a deflected shot wide for a corner. One of a few as the first half progressed. Clarke brought Austin MacPhee in to find ways to enhance his team’s danger levels from set-piece opportunities. That had paid off superbly when Souttar added a fresh narrative to the night with his opener.
The problem for Scotland was obvious. A goal to the good, precisely where they wanted to be, they had a choice of whether to stick or twist. As Denmark pressed for the leveller, it felt at times as if they were inviting trouble to the door.
Gilmour’s 25 yard controlled half-volley after an hour was never likely to beat Schmeichel, but represented a shot on target.
With 65 minutes played, the Scots came to within inches of the second goal which would surely have seen them over the line.
Adams — leading the line brilliantly with intelligence and
finesse — found space behind the Danish defence to run on to McGinn’s ball over the top. His first touch seemed to drag the ball too wide before he rattled a low effort against the base of the upright. A flag was raised to show he was marginally offside.
The loss of captain Robertson with 13 minutes to play removed experience and calm when Scotland needed it most. They were clinging on a bit, spending the final minutes in a state of nervous, weary resistance.
That was until pent-up tension was released brilliantly with four minutes to play. How Adams deserved his goal after an outstanding display of forward play.
A quick break saw the equally tireless McGinn feed substitute Stuart Armstrong. The Southampton man released his club-mate perfectly to race in on goal and finish in clinical fashion.
Already through to Qatar, Denmark will drown their sorrows with a pint or two of their national lager. Good that way, the Tartan Army might just join them.