He and his team-mates have delivered where so many before them failed. Goal hero Christie's tearful and poignant post-match interview captured the mood of a nation. Yet Clarke's players dug in with a sheer bloody-minded refusal to be beaten, then showed nerves of steel - and no little skill - in the shootout. The devastating blow of conceding a last-minute equaliser would have broken lesser men. This can be the start of something special for a Scotland squad who have the mentality to match their talent. Australia's loss is Scotland's gain What did we learn? Man of the match - Lyndon Dykes Fearless and physical, the striker led the line superbly and is a national hero after just six caps. Cue bedlam in the Scotland ranks as two decades of frustration poured out. Then Marshall flung himself to his left to palm away Mitrovic's effort. One final push was required and Leigh Griffiths, McGregor, Scott McTominay, Oli McBurnie and Kenny McLean all delivered from the spot. Scotland staggered towards the shootout, clearly exhausted. The Tartan Army's fingernails were nibbled nearer the quick but their heroes were not to be denied. Extra time was arduous with Serbia on top as Nemanja Gudelj's dipping drive brought out a brilliant diving save from Marshall and Aleksandar Katai had pot-shots either side of the interval. Can you name the men Clarke has emulated?Ĭlarke's men were crestfallen, but not out for the count.Podcast: All the reaction to an epic game.Serbia slung over a corner and Jovic had lost his marker to send a header down into the turf and up over Marshall into the top corner. And - in true Scotland fashion - the sucker-punch arrived. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Mitrovic and Jovic all thundered headers narrowly past Marshall's right-hand upright.īy now it was an excruciating watch. Serbia had been pretty abject so far - surely there was an onslaught to come? The nagging doubt that it could all go horribly wrong kept gnawing away at fans ingrained in glorious failure.Ĭlarke's men could have put the tie to bed - a McGregor strike drifted wide and Christie was agonisingly close with a curling effort.īut Serbia began to hammer at the door in the frantic closing stages.
Ryan Christie's strike gave Scotland the lead in Belgrade Christie's nifty footwork opened up the space for a shot and he arrowed in off the base of the post. Callum McGregor pounced on a stray pass out of Serbia's defence and shuttled the ball to his Celtic team-mate. But within moments the disappointment made way for euphoria. They should have led early in the second half when Dykes danced past three defenders and squared for the in-rushing Andy Robertson to blaze over.Ī big chance gone. It was an isolated scare, though, and the interval did nothing to halt Scotland's momentum. When they did muster a chance midway through the opening half, it almost yielded the opener, with Sasa Lukic's drive from a Mitrovic lay-off whistling inches wide. Serbia - for all their talent - looked uneasy and had barely a sniff.
The midfielder's shot needed power and precision but lacked both as Predrag Rajkovic smothered at the second attempt.
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There were flashes of first-half threat from Scotland, the best when a Dykes knockdown led to John McGinn breaking free down the left-hand channel. On an occasion demanding a big performance, every Scotland player delivered. He was just one of the heroes in blue all over the pitch. Lyndon Dykes was putting in a gruelling shift, winning countless aerial duels and making the ball stick. They were comfortable in possession for an hour, zipping passes around, and harrying the visitors. Yet while a nation's nerves were fraying back home, Scotland's players exuded a calm authority. Gut-wrenching does not come close to describing it.
Not content with putting the nation through the trauma of a shootout in the semi-final against Israel, they repeated the dose. If there was a Scotland way to finally get back to the big time, then this was it.
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