... AND A NEW KIND OF AGONY
SCOTLAND’S crushing defeat to a Kazakhstan side ranked 117th in the world might just have set a new benchmark in humiliation. Losing to supposed lesser powers is not an unfamiliar experience for the national side, but the scale of the loss in Nursultan — and the abysmal performance that accompanied it — stunned even hardened members of the Tartan Army. Here, Sportsmail takes a look back at previous embarrassments in competitive matches and asks: will anything ever rival this? KAZAKHSTAN 3-0 SCOTLAND, Euro 2020 qualifier. A new release that has shot straight into No 1 on the hellish chart. A string of call-offs appeared an ill omen, but no one could have predicted such an almighty shambles. Kazakhstan had just three wins from their last 40 qualifiers, yet tore a disorganised and inept Scotland to pieces. Dreadful defending allowed Yuriy Pertsukh and Yan Vorogovskiy to score inside the first ten minutes, with Alex McLeish’s side offering nothing in the way of a response. A header from Baktiyor Zainutdinov just after the break completed a truly mortifying evening. SCOTLAND 1-1 IRAN, 1978 World Cup finals. Parts of the Scottish footballing psyche have never really recovered from what happened in Argentina. Tipped as potential World Cup winners by a bombastic Ally MacLeod, the opening 3-1 defeat to Peru quickly shattered any illusions of global dominance. Somehow that wasn’t the nadir. The following match against supposed makeweights Iran in Cordoba was scarcely believable. Scotland couldn’t even score in their own right. A rather absurd own goal from Andranik Eskandarian gave MacLeod’s men — Kenny Dalglish, Joe Jordan et al — a lead they hopelessly squandered. Iraj Danaifar’s second-half equaliser beyond Alan Rough meant the subsequent victory over Holland was irrelevant. LUXEMBOURG 0-0 SCOTLAND, Euro 1988 qualifier. Failure to reach the European Championship finals in then West Germany was confirmed by a dismal stalemate against the little nation surrounded by Belgium, France and Germany. Andy Roxburgh partnered the forward power of Graeme Sharp and Mo Johnston but his side were unable to find a way past home goalkeeper John Van Rijswijck. Johnston came closest with a couple of drives across the face of goal but it was powderpuff stuff from a team skippered by current Scotland boss McLeish. COSTA RICA 1-0 SCOTLAND, 1990 World Cup finals. History has been kinder to this setback but it still felt like a hammer blow at the time. The Central Americans were making their first-ever World Cup appearance and — thanks to Juan Cayasso’s 49th-minute winner — found Roxburgh’s team to be the ideal introduction. Another finals campaign was holed below the waterline before it had truly started.
FAROE ISLANDS 1-1 SCOTLAND, Euro 2000 qualifier. There seemed minimal danger when Allan Johnston gave Scotland the lead on a summer’s afternoon in Toftir 20 years ago. Yet the dismissal of Matt Elliott on the stroke of half-time — for landing a blow on Todi Jonsson that was spotted by French female assistant referee Nelly Viennot — provided the Faroe Islands with a reason for hope. They duly saw it flourish in the 90th minute when Hans Hansen planted a free header into the net to sicken Craig Brown’s men. FAROE ISLANDS 2-2 SCOTLAND, Euro 2004 qualifier. A different manager, Berti Vogts, oversaw an even worse return to the north Atlantic outpost. This time, there was no mitigation from a red card. John Petersen scored twice inside the opening 13 minutes to leave the Scots bewildered. Things couldn’t get worse and an improvement in the second half saw goals from Paul Lambert and Barry Ferguson level the scoreline. Even then, the Faroes had chances to win it. A 1-1 draw in Moldova would also follow before the end of Vogts’ dire reign. GEORGIA 2-0 SCOTLAND, Euro 2008 qualifier. McLeish’s first stint in charge of Scotland was a far happier affair, but this setback in Tbilisi ultimately shattered what would have been an outstanding qualification for the European Championship. Home and away victories over France had heightened expectation that only increased further with news Georgia would field three teenagers — including a debut for 17-year-old goalkeeper Giorgi Makaridze, who had yet to play for Dinamo Tbilisi. But Scotland couldn’t threaten him and goals from Levan Mchedlidze and David Siradze spelled despair. GEORGIA 1-0 SCOTLAND, Euro 2016 qualifier. History repeated itself as another campaign imbued with early promise came unstuck in the former Soviet state. Germany, Poland and the Republic of Ireland had all won in Georgia and Scotland’s failure to do so was critical in the campaign. Gordon Strachan’s men had plenty of possession in Tbilisi but were unable to fashion much in the way of genuine attacking threat. Valeri Qazaishvili’s first-half goal was enough to give the hosts victory — and leave the dejected Scots fourth in the section.