The ball rose from the center line and flew through the air towards the empty goal for what felt like an eternity when Scotland realized that the dream shot by the Czech Patrik Schick would become its own nightmare. After the hit, there was an embarrassed silence among the almost without exception Scottish fans in Hampden Park. The ghostly silence was reminiscent of a cemetery – where the Scottish hope was buried to report back with an opening success at the EM after ten missed tournaments in a row.
Thanks to a fine double by Schick, the Czech Republic won 2-0 (1-0) against Scotland on the first day of Group D. Following an inadequately cleared corner, the Bayer Leverkusen striker hit with his head just before the end of the first half. At the beginning of the second half, in a counterattack, Schick overtook goalkeeper David Marshall, who was too far in front of his own goal. As expected, a nervous, hard-fought game developed at a manageable level in stormy, cold, wet Glasgow. The Scots, however, were hardly up to the occasion. On the day of the game, the Times headlined: “Seize the moment!” But the anticipation and zest for action of the team led by national coach Steve Clarke initially turned into nervousness – and then into panic after the many frivolously missed opportunities. Despite all the support, the 12,000 spectators did not manage to bring their own team back into the game.
The burden of history seemed to hold back the Scots – every gate would have been one for the ages
As soon as the national anthem – “Flower of Scotland” was played, Hampden awoke to his old, terrifying greatness. The noise level suggested that the stadium was completely filled and not, as prescribed, only a quarter. The Scottish players couldn’t help but go on the offensive right away. In every duel the audience jumped aside, in the 18th minute a typical Scottish attack developed. It went straight forward over captain Andrew Robertson, his cross reached Lyndon Dykes, who messed up the ball from close range. It was similar with his team-mates John McGinn and Ryan Christie, who also missed passable opportunities. Robertson missed the best opportunity after half an hour when he was free-standing in the penalty area and did not aim his shot precisely enough. The burden of history seemed to hold back the Scots – every goal would have been one for eternity, at least until another Scotsman scored a goal at a major tournament. The last time a certain Craig Burley succeeded in doing this was at the 1998 World Cup. Scotland had not qualified for a final since then.
What exactly has been missed in these past 23 years became apparent for the first time before kick-off when the Scots belted out their folk song “The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond”, a really enchanting folk song. When the stadium control went to the next item on the program after two minutes, it rained a whistle to make the decision. The tone was thus set for the historic first final game in the 118-year history of Hampden Park, a national stadium of the original style, which with its limited amenities seems to have fallen out of time, but for that very reason remains one of the gems in European football belongs. Under the headline “When Hampden roared”, when the fans shouted their throats out of their throats at the Hampden, the Times listed the loudest experiences in this stadium on match day. This included the 2017 World Cup qualifier, in which the Scot Leigh Griffiths produced two sensational free-kick goals against England in the final phase. Only the equalization in stoppage time prevented Scotland’s first success over England since 1999.
The fans live the game like in hardly any other place, almost without exception standing
The opening game of the Scots was not suitable for similar cabinet pieces. The confrontation with the Czechs was less of a game for the eyes than for the ears. The peculiarity of an international match in Glasgow is that Scotland practically does not need a coach because the spectators guide the players in every situation anyway. The fans live the game like in hardly any other place, almost without exception standing and mostly with a keen sense of the right behavior. After the double strike by Schick (42nd / 52nd), people pushed their own team forward. The Scots had clear scoring chances almost every minute. Successively several players failed because of the brilliant Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik; An own goal by defense chief Tomas Kalas almost brought the interim equalization. But not even the wind was on the side of the Scots when Vaclik was able to fend off the ball, which was almost in the air, just in front of the line. Even from a few yards, attacker Dykes failed to get the ball into the goal, and substitute James Forrest had a similar experience.
Due to the defeat, Scotland is in a duel with the “Auld Enemy”, the old opponent England, on Friday under massive pressure if it is to go beyond the preliminary round at a tournament for the first time. Otherwise the long wait for the EM would have been almost in vain.
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