As the party starts we’re at the window pawing at the glass
SHORTLY before 6pm in the Place SaintJacques in Metz last Saturday, a vision of Euro 2016 emerged. Rain clouds as grey as an over-washed vest parted to let a watery sun peak through.
A traditional French market square, the outdoor cafes, restaurants and bars thronged with Messins; the men, women and children of Metz with French tricolours painted on their cheeks and Pogba emblazoned on their backs.
The Tartan Army mixed freely, drinking, eating and smoking. Pot-bellied, middle-aged Scots fans — they usually are — abandoned pints of Cisk lager to join a trio of kids using a statue of the Virgin Mary as a goalpost.
It was a universally good-natured affair. A celebration.
There was a temptation to sack the taxi bound for the Stade SaintSymphorien and find a table. To settle down, order a pint and overlook the inconvenience of a football match between France and Scotland with a wholly predictable scoreline.
Italy had already used Gordon Strachan’s team as a toothless tribute act to the Republic of Ireland in Malta.
And, in France, the Scots once again failed to muster a shot on target, taking 66 minutes to win as much as a corner.
It was an ignominious experience. A reminder of why, when it comes to it, Scotland have no business being at Euro 2016.
For all the talk of makeshift squads, eight of the starting line-up in Metz were pretty much first-picks under Strachan. Devoid of legs, motivation or technical graft, they lost 3-0.
Had France scored six, there could have been no complaints. In the immediate aftermath, there was no regret that Scotland had missed out; only relief.
By the time the hosts play Romania in the opening match this evening, the emotions will shift. To a wistful desire to be back in France; lambs to the slaughter once more.
The SFA were major movers in the decision to expand the European Championships from 16 to 24 teams in 2008. The motivation was clear and transparent.
‘There were two reasons for pushing for it,’ recalls former SFA chief executive Gordon Smith.
‘The main one was that it gave us more chance of qualification.
‘The second reason was that, during the group stages, you find there are more meaningful games as the group goes on because the best third-placed finishers have a chance of going through.
‘Right to the very end of the group, you have meaningful games.’
Meaningful, of course, is not the same as attractive.
Over the course of the next four weeks, people will pick and choose their matches. Albania’s opening game with Switzerland tomorrow afternoon will provoke curiosity.
Yet, by day 10 of a lengthy first phase beamed back-to-back on terrestrial television, Romania vs. Albania could hold less appeal. The game is televised on BBC4. How many would open the curtains to watch it in their own back garden is debatable.
Iceland vs. Hungary a week tomorrow falls into the same category. Neither does Northern Ireland vs. Ukraine on Thursday push all the buttons.
This is the price of the bigger tournament the SFA wanted. Unappealing football matches played between uninteresting football teams.
After 36 first-stage games, eight nations will be eliminated. It’s more difficult, now, to be kicked out after the first stage than it is to reach the last 16.
For the Scotland teams which reached five successive World Cup Finals between 1974 and 1990, this would have been a dream scenario. It only serves now to heighten the anguish.
The scenes at Place Saint-Jacques last week were a small manifestation of what will happen all over France for the next four weeks.
The air was alive with possibility and anticipation. It felt, dodging through tables and ducking past parasols, as if the Tartan Army had been transported back in time.
Back to France ’98 and the ubiquitous strains of Dario G’s Carnival de Paris with its bagpipe middle eight. To the hours before the opening game against Brazil in Paris when the national team were one of the main players. And not just the second-rate warm-up act.
When Scotland speaks of missing out on the party, this is what we mean.
Watching the national football team is no great loss. Failing to be part of the spectacle, soaking it up and sharing the expectation and hope certainly is.
No one can overlook the dark potential for evil or mayhem in the coming weeks.
The security in Metz was a reminder of the unspoken spectre stalking this tournament. News bulletins have been full of security drills amid the understandable fear of a terrorist atrocity. One right-wing nutter was seized by the Ukrainian authorities trying to leave the country for Euro 2016 with an arms haul which could wipe out a small city.
In Metz, bags were checked, scanned and checked again. Row upon row of barriers confronted spectators and journalists alike. Football is a target like never before.
Yet who among the Tartan Army wouldn’t take their chances?
Scotland finds itself standing at the window pawing the glass. The cool kids are inside playing the games. The oddballs and outsiders are stuck on the pavement. Again.
When Smith pushed through the brainchild of the late David Taylor to expand Euro 2016, he did so with the specific aim of benefitting Scotland. The only nations giving thanks now are Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic, Iceland and Albania.
‘Ultimately, we are not there because we have failed,’ added Smith. ‘I felt if we went from 16 to 24 teams, we were almost going to be a certainty to qualify.
‘We were surely going to be one of the top 24 teams because even if we finished third, we still had a chance via a play-off.
‘It just hasn’t worked out that way. It might in future years, but we have to look on this and acknowledge that we have wasted a very good opportunity.’