Sid Lowe was at the Estadio de La Cartuja tonight, and his report has landed. Here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Steve Clarke talks to Viaplay. “I’m disappointed for the players … a really good performance … Spain know they were in a game … the game turned on a small margin … but we created some good chances … disappointed tonight, but we’re still in a good position … the players reacted OK … we coped reasonably well with the pressure … you can show the McTominay goal as much as you like but we’re not getting it … the second goal put an unfair shine on the game because we didn’t deserve to lose 2-0 … I don’t think we deserved to lose, to be fair … certainly in my tenure, going away to pot-one teams, you lose, sometimes heavily, so we’ve come here and lost, but it was a game, a proper game between two good teams … we wanted to do it tonight in front of the magnificent Tartan Army but we’ll have to wait … this team is improving and improving and improving … tonight is another step forward even though it’s a sore one … but we get ready for November.”
McGinn also reports on the health of Andy Robertson, who departed just before half-time with his shoulder in a makeshift sling. “His shoulder doesn’t look great and he’s in a lot of pain … hopefully it’s not too serious and we’ll see him back soon.”
A frustrated John McGinn speaks to Viaplay. “The big moments went against us … we put in some shift … it’s a tough one to take, losing Robbo early and then thinking you’re ahead … we competed for long spells … it’s very difficult to win here but under the circumstances it was near enough impossible … you need to be very careful what you say … everyone watching that game tonight from a Scotland point of view, it just felt like we weren’t getting the decisions … 50-50 decisions, 50-50 balls, going in for fair challenges and not getting them … it made it extremely difficult against a world-class team … the stats will show that they had a lot of the ball and a lot better chances … you need a perfect performance here to win and for everything to align, and tonight it was just never going to happen … [the referee] changed [the VAR decision] in-game, which is the frustrating game, it shows it’s not clear and obvious … he’s saying at one point it’s a foul, he then changes it because he realises it isn’t a foul … it’s a big moment … that qualifies us, so it’s a hammer blow … sometimes these things go for you but tonight it was never going to go for us.”
A downcast but philosophical Scott McKenna speaks to Viaplay. “It’s obviously disappointing … there wasn’t too much in [McTominay’s] goal for that to be disallowed … we’d quietened their crowd … that goal being disallowed gave them a lift … Aaron Hickey has been brilliant for us and that was an unfortunate moment … unfortunately it went against us tonight … it’s still in our hands to top the group … we’ve got a couple of games next month that, if we win, we top the group … there’s a game this weekend between Spain and Norway that could go in our favour, so there’s that to look forward to as well.”
That’s Scotland’s first defeat of their Group A campaign – their first dropped points, in fact – and it moves Spain to within two points of them at the top of the table. Thing is, Scotland won’t care a jot should Spain overtake them at the weekend … because if the Spanish win or draw in Norway on Sunday night, Steve Clarke’s team will qualify for Euro 2024 without kicking another ball. (Norway won 4-0 in Cyprus tonight to keep their slim hopes of pipping either Scotland or Spain alive.)
If that doesn’t work in Scotland’s favour, they’ll have opportunities to get the precious point they’d still need for qualification in November, when they travel to Georgia before hosting Norway at Hampden in the final round of matches. It couldn’t come down to that, could it? Surely not: if Scotland continue to play like they did tonight, they’ll surely make it. And yet it doesn’t bear thinking about, does it.
Luis De La Fuente almost apologetically hugs Steve Clarke. That’ll be a difficult one for the Scotland boss to process. His team were outplayed – as everyone expected, to be fair – but fought gallantly and looked to have taken the lead through Scott McTominay’s clever free kick. A classic smash-and-grab looked on. But VAR intervened, taking the goal away for the vaguest and softest reasons. Offside and interfering? Foul? Uefa couldn’t seem to make up their mind. Either way, it was debatable. A clear and obvious error it was most certainly not. But more than one thing can be true, and it’s also the case that on the balance of play, Spain were by far the better side, Scotland often requiring huge slices of luck to stay level, and Alvaro Morata’s finish for the opening goal was a delight. So it’s kind of the right result … the night simply took everyone on a strange journey to get there.
FULL TIME: Spain 2-0 Scotland
Yep, Scotland are so close, yet so far.
90 min +4: Spain play more keep-ball. Scotland, the wind out of a very moist sail, can’t be bothered to press. You can’t blame them.
90 min +2: The Spanish fans start with the olés. Let’s face it, they’re allowed to, they’ve been the better side and they invented the whole concept after all.
90 min +1: McGinn launches a long diagonal free kick into the mixer. McLean rises at the far stick and heads back across goal. Adams sticks out a weak leg to deflect the ball wide right. He should have scored.
90 min: Laporte is booked for putting a cynical shoulder on McTominay. There will be five additional minutes.
88 min: Porteous and McGregor are replaced by McLean and Gilmour. The latter’s first act is to clearly mouth “For fuck’s sake!” in a very frustrated manner.
GOAL! Spain 2-0 Scotland (Porteous og 86)
Scotland have been staunch in defence tonight, but this one was self-inflicted. Hickey is under no pressure whatsoever, only to slip near the corner flag on the right. Joselu tears off with the ball and crosses low. Porteous looks to have stopped Sancet slotting into an unguarded net, but his fine block turns into a ricochet that sends the ball dribbling apologetically into the net.
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85 min: … latches onto a loose ball down the inside-right channel. He rounds Gunn and whips goalwards, only for Porteous to arrive out of nowhere and block!
84 min: Hendry is booked for excessive patter. Then Morata is replaced by Joselu, who …
83 min: … and another big opportunity is passed up. The ball drops to Armstrong, who attempts to force home only to be denied by Rodri’s block. Another throw, but this one doesn’t cause half as many problems for the hosts. Goal kick.
82 min: McGinn wins a corner for Scotland down the right. Nothing comes from it, but Scotland keep the pressure on and win a throw deep in Spanish territory. Porteous to fling long into a crowded box.
81 min: McGinn dances his way through the centre circle, evading a couple of Spanish challenges before rolling a pass wide left for Hickey. He’s got team-mates free in the box but opts to dribble into the area himself instead. His low shot-cum-cross is nearly prodded home from close range by Adams, but Simon is on point to snaffle.
79 min: A double change for Southampton Scotland: Che Adams and Stuart Armstrong come on for Dykes and Christie. “Tension? What tension?” asks Simon McMahon. “Mind you, I’m on my second bottle of VAR 69.”
77 min: Uefa have now changed their tune about the VAR decision. Hendry was offside, and interfering with play. To be fair, that’s slightly more understandable … though you can certainly make the case that Hendry didn’t have any influence on the play, because Simon was standing around doing absolutely nothing anyway. Who’d be an on-field referee these days, huh?
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76 min: Laporte comes barging into the back of Christie and is fairly fortunate to escape a booking. “I have absolutely no love for the Scotland team, in fact I can’t stand them,” begins Samuel Campbell, who may or may not be a jaded Scotland supporter, it’s not necessarily as clear as it looks, “but if that goal has been disallowed for a foul on the keeper then that might be the worst decision I have seen for quite some time. Absolutely ridiculous.”
75 min: The scoreline doesn’t flatter Spain on the balance of play. In fact, if anything, it flatters Scotland. And yet the chalking off of McTominay’s goal was so ludicrous, Morata’s goal will feel like a bitter pill for Scotland to swallow.
GOAL! Spain 1-0 Scotland (Morata 73)
Jesus Navas makes good down the right. He crosses for Morata, who makes a run from deep to guide a cute header across Gunn and into the bottom left. Lovely goal, which had been coming since McTominay’s disallowed effort.
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71 min: Spain are pressing hard. Torres skedaddles down the right and leaves Hickey for dust. His cutback is hacked clear by Hendry. “It’s a testament to the maturity of the Scottish team that they haven’t lost their heads following the goal being chalked off,” writes Kári Tulinius. “If anything, it’s La Furia Roja on whom the red mist has descended.”
69 min: Scotland deal with a Spain corner easily enough. Zaragoza hoicks a speculative cross out for a goal kick. Signs of frustration from Spain, who are used to winning these matches – they’ve won their last 23 Euro qualifiers on home soil. A couple of minutes previously, Morata lost his rag at McKenna for seemingly very little. The tension is palpable.
67 min: Merino and Carvajal are replaced by Jesus Navas and Oihan Sancet. Meanwhile Erling Haaland has scored again in Cyprus: it’s 3-0 to Norway.
66 min: Confirmation from Uefa that the goal was disallowed for a foul by Hendry, rather than the same player straying offside. The push was minimal and Spain have been handed a huge gift there.
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65 min: Erling Haaland has made it 2-0 to Norway in Cyprus. So if Scotland are to qualify tonight, they’ll need to hold on for a point here.
63 min: The home crowd were shocked into silence before McTominay’s “goal”. Now they’re up for it again. Spain have got away with one there. Soft, soft, soft, and so generous from the VAR and the referee. “Absolutely diabolical decision,” writes James Humphries.
VAR: Spain 0-0 Scotland
The goal’s ruled out. Hendry is adjudged to have shoved Simon into the net as the ball flew past the pair of them and into the net. That’s such a soft decision, and McTominay is furious, slamming the water bottle he’s drinking from into the ground. Hendry barely touched the keeper.
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GOAL! Spain 0-1 Scotland (McTominay 59)
McTominay takes. He whips a shot-cum-cross through the six-yard box. It sails over everyone’s head and into the top right! McTominay can do nothing wrong right now, and Scotland are on for the mother of all smash and grabs here!
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58 min: Carvajal is booked for tugging back Christie, the Scotland man having nicked the ball off his toe. Free kick, just to the left of the Spain box, a couple of yards from the byline. And from the free kick …
57 min: Torres whips a cross in from the right. Morata is free at the back stick, but strangely fails to throw himself at the ball. Gunn wouldn’t have been able to intervene.
56 min: Carvajal floats in a cross from the right. Morata brings it down on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box and sends Porteous off for some oranges. He wedges a lovely diagonal shot across Gunn and towards the top right. Had it been on target, Gunn was completely impotent. But the ball sails over the bar. Just. Spain have done just about everything other than score.
54 min: Zaragoza is causing all sorts of trouble. He is sensational. His dribble down the left is deflected out for a corner. From that, Laporte barges McTominay over. Free kick, though McTominay wanted some colour-card-based punishment meted out. The referee is quite rightly not interested.
53 min: Some pinball outside the Spain box. Scotland get the lucky bounce and suddenly McGinn pokes through the middle for Christie, who would be clear in the box had the ball not pinged off his shin.
51 min: Out on the left, Zaragoza attempts to beat Patterson on the outside. Patterson sticks out an arm and brushes the winger. Zaragoza goes down in the potato-sack style, buying a cheap free kick … hey, these things happen … though the resulting yellow card for the Scotland full-back is a bit much. Compare and contrast with the McGinn-Carvajal incident, in almost the same place during the first half.
49 min: Zaragoza is immediately into the thick of the action, dribbling infield from the left and sailing past McTominay with ease. He curls for the top right. Just wide, just over. What an impact that would have been!
47 min: Free kick for Scotland. McGinn launches long. Porteous wins the header but Simon claims the second ball. No collateral damage this time.
Spain get the second half underway. Alejandro Balde and Mikel Oyarzabal make way for Fran García and the exciting Granada winger Bryan Zaragoza.
Half-time entertainment.
It’s half-time at the AEK Arena in Larnaca as well. Norway lead Cyprus 1-0 thanks to Alexander Sørloth’s deflected shot.
HALF TIME: Spain 0-0 Scotland
As things stand, Scotland are on for the point that will qualify them for Euro 2024. They’ve been holding on by their fingernails, though, and have lost their captain Andrew Robertson to what looks a serious shoulder/arm/collarbone injury. It could be a long second 45 for Steve Clarke’s men.
45 min +3: Merino loses possession to McTominay, who threatens to start a counter. Merino lunges in cynically and goes straight into the book.
45 min +2: Patterson attempts to usher a ball out for a goal kick. Balde steals it away from him before the whole of the ball crosses the line. Brilliant from Balde, but Porteous comes across to steal it back. Patterson clearly not quite up to speed yet.
45 min +1: The first of four added minutes passes by without incident.
45 min: Now it’s McGregor who needs some treatment, Carvajal having skelped a shot straight into his startled face. Happily he’s up and smiling again soon enough.
43 min: … and off goes Robertson, holding his arm and shoulder gingerly. Hopefully it looks worse than it is, but they didn’t take long to make that decision, Robertson clearly unable to continue. A dislocation or worse? Scotland – and Liverpool – will be hoping not. News if and when we have it.
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41 min: Robertson takes a free kick out on the right. The ball’s worked infield before being sent back towards him. Robertson jumps to compete for a high ball. Simon comes across and claims, drops, and cleans the Scotland captain out. Free kick to Spain, according to Goalkeeper’s Rules. Anywhere else on the pitch and you’d surely be wondering about a free kick to Scotland. But more seriously, Robertson doesn’t get back up. On comes the physio …
40 min: Dykes flings in a long throw from the left. McKenna eyebrows high into the air, and Simon catches, his first touch of the evening.
38 min: McKenna’s half clearance falls to Carvajal on the right wing. Carvajal whips it in first time. Morata sticks out a boot and deflects the ball into the bottom left. Gunn no chance! But Morata was a mile offside. Up pops the flag to save Scotland again.
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36 min: Dykes is booked for whacking Laporte upside the head with the point of his elbow. He can have no argument, but starts one with the referee and his opponent anyway.
34 min: Gavi is sprung clear down the right. He cuts back for Oyarzabal, whose first-time shot is blocked brilliantly by Hickey. The ball rebounds to Merino, who flipper-whips a first-time shot towards the bottom left. It hits the base of the post and flies across the face of goal before spinning out for a goal kick. Inches away from hitting the sprawling Gunn on the back and going in. Scotland hanging on.
32 min: Norway have opened the scoring in Cyprus. Alexander Sørloth with a deflected shot.
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30 min: Carvajal rolls a diagonal pass infield from the right. A deflection finds Morata free down the inside-right channel. Morata rounds Gunn, but he’s been pushed too far wide and lashes into the side netting. The flag then pops up for offside anyway, though VAR might have taken another look at that had Morata scored.
28 min: Merino twists and turns down the inside right before gently shovelling a pass down the middle. It drops inches too far ahead of Morata, and Gunn gratefully snaffles. That would have been a picture-book goal.
27 min: This is outrageous. Christie sends a raking right-to-left pass towards Robertson, who cushions a header towards McGinn, just to the left of the Spanish D. Before McGinn can control, Carvajal barges him to the ground in the agricultural style. It’s as clear a free kick as you’ll see, but the referee waves play on. Scotland up in arms.
25 min: Balde wrestles Dykes out on the Scotland right. Foul, free kick, and a chance to line up on the edge of the Spanish box. Robertson swings the set piece long for Porteous, who knocks down to nobody in particular. Spain tidy up.
23 min: Now it’s Morata trying to release Oyarzabal. Hickey gets across to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. Anyway, about that Dundonian marmalade. “Local legend has it that James Keiller from Dundee acquired oranges from Seville after a Spanish boat was shipwrecked,” begins Simon McMahon. “His mother Janet boiled the past-its-best fruit with sugar, thus creating the first marmalade. The Scotland team appear to be repaying the favour tonight by being marmalised in Seville.”
21 min: Scotland can hardly get a kick. When they are afforded one, they quickly ship possession. This is all Spain, and an opening goal for the hosts is beginning to feel nothing more than a matter of time.
20 min: Balde causes trouble down the left. He makes for the byline only to turn back and spin away from Hickey with ease. He rolls infield to Oyarzabal, who leans back and hoicks over the bar in the rugby-union style.
18 min: Torres nearly releases Oyarzabal down the left. Hickey reads the danger and ushers the pass out for a goal kick.
17 min: The corner’s whipped to the near post. Le Normand flicks on dangerously, but there’s nobody in red to trundle home.
16 min: Laporte floats a gorgeous long pass down the inside-right channel and nearly releases Oyarzabal. McKenna does extremely well to intercept and clear. But Spain come again, Carvajal once again crossing dangerously from the right to earn another corner on the left.
15 min: The Scotland fans are doing a grand job of giving Rodri dog’s abuse every single time he touches the ball. Some achievement making themselves heard in this cauldron.
13 min: Scotland clear the resulting corner. The opening exchanges suggest they’re going to have to do an awful lot of defending tonight. Like that’s surprising news.
12 min: Spain push Scotland back. Torres can’t quite control on the edge of the D. Balde nearly tears clear on the left. Carvajal’s cross then comes in from the right. Porteous turns behind under pressure from Merino.
10 min: Rodri takes up possession and cops for some pantomime abuse from the travelling crowd. Boooooo! Hey, he’s always got Istanbul.
8 min: Robertson hares down the left and rolls a cute pass infield for Christie, who can’t quite get the ball under control as he enters the box. Spain clear, but this is a good response from Scotland after that very shaky start.
6 min: Porteous, Dykes and Hickey combine down the right to win a throw deep in Spanish territory. Dykes flings it in long. Spain half clear, but Hickey rolls a pass down the right for Dykes, who crosses low and hard. McTominay sticks out a leg in the hope of flicking home, but catches Laporte instead. Free kick, and a reminder that Scotland, who had been on the ropes from the get-go, have the ability to ask a few questions as well.
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4 min: Spain already have that look about them. You know, that look. Scotland can barely get a sniff. Balde strides down the left and wins a corner off Porteous. Before it can be taken, Laporte goes barging into Porteous in the uncompromising style. The referee has a word. One corner leads to a second, and that one’s nearly converted at the far stick by Morata, who dives but heads wide right.
2 min: Nearly the fastest of starts for Spain! Morata drops deep to quarterback and slips a pass down the middle to send Torres clear! Easy as that. Torres draws Gunn and attempts to slot into the bottom right, but the ball bobbles harmlessly wide of goal. A huge chance, an even bigger miss, and Scotland breathe again.
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Scotland kick off … and launch long. Spain snaffle the ball quickly enough. A pattern set within seconds? Scottish fans who enjoy having nails on the end of their fingers will hope not.
The teams are out! Spain resplendent in their furious red. Scotland snazzy in second-choice white, with just a touch of the Real Madrids about them tonight. An absolute belter of an atmosphere in the Estadio La Cartuja! The Spanish fans giving it plenty, but the big number of Scottish supporters doing their bit too. Anthems to proudly belt out, pennants to swap. We’ll be off in a minute! “Scotland playing in Seville is a sweet and sticky reminder of British marmalade brands that built their reputations on oranges from the region,” writes Dundee Marmalade expert Simon McMahon Peter Oh, who continues: “‘Once’ is Spanish for ‘eleven’. The Spain starting lineup (‘Once titular’) is impressive, but they are up against Once Proud Scotland! Orange you glad that that’s all from me?” Peter’s here all week, ladies and gentleman. Try the citrus preserve.
A typically deadpan Steve Clarke talks to Viaplay. “We do what we always do … we respect our opponents … we try to put something together an idea that can give us a chance to give us something from the game … you have to relish these games … you want to do as well as you can … hopefully the players can show how good they are … it’s not three changes from the team that beat Spain at Hampden [indeed it’s just two] … everyone out there knows their job … we’ve got people ready to come in when required … hopefully we can cover all bases … when we played Spain in March they were in transition … they’ve had a great summer when they’ve won the Nations League … they’ll feel they’re in a good place … but we feel we’re also in a good place … you relish the occasion and hope the team can perform.”
Pre-match nerves. “Ach, Scott.” There’s a disappointment-drenched phrase I’ve heard more times than I care to recall. Anyway, it’s Simon McMahon! “Here I was minding my own business, trying to play it cool and doing the usual Scottish thing in thinking we’ve got no chance, and then you go and post the greatest-ever Scotland goal by the greatest-ever Dundee United player at the greatest-ever World Cup, and all of a sudden I’m reaching for the whisky and thinking it’s in the bag. Then of course I remember that, after Narey’s opener in Seville in 1982, we lost that game 4-1. But either way, I’ve still got the whisky. We’re going to Germany, of that I have no doubt. Well, maybe just a little bit. Especially if we lose tonight. Which we will. I’ve no doubt about that either. Dave Narey, though. Come on Scotland!”
Oh Simon! I love it when you drink your whisky! (One for the Viz photo-story heads there.)
One bit of expected news: Kieran Tierney is injured, so Scott McKenna takes his place on the left side of central defence. One piece of slightly surprising news: Billy Gilmour is benched, in favour of Ryan Christie, who was a rare plus point from the England match and gives the midfield more of an attacking flavour. The other change from the game against England: Lyndon Dykes in for Ché Adams.
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The teams
Spain: Unai Simón, Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Balde, Gavi, Rodrigo, Merino, Torres, Oyarzabal, Morata.
Subs: Kepa, Raya, Sancet, Pau Torres, Fabián Ruiz, Zaragoza, Joselu, García, Ansu Fati, Zubimendi, Fran García, Jesús Navas.
Scotland: Gunn, Hickey, Hendry, Porteous, McKenna, Robertson, McGregor, McTominay, McGinn, Christie, Dykes.
Subs: Kelly, Clark, Souttar, Cooper, Adams, Gilmour, Armstrong, Brown, Ferguson, Taylor, Patterson, McLean.
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands).
🚨 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟| THIS IS SPAIN'S LINEUP
— Spanish Football (@SpainIsFootball) October 12, 2023
👥 These are the 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 chosen by Luis de la Fuente to start the match against Scotland.
🙌🏻🇪🇸 All in with them, fans!!#VamosEspaña | #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/c7Zk94VUDn
🔢 This is how we line-up to face Spain.
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) October 12, 2023
Show your Scotland team some support 🏴 #ESPSCO pic.twitter.com/oUMsWjiUnv
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Preamble
Scotland are so close, yet so far. They’ll become the first team to qualify for Euro 2024 if they draw with Spain in Seville tonight, or if Norway fail to win in Cyprus. However, those are big ifs.
If.
If.
See?! Cyprus have lost all of their matches in Group A so far, shipping 17 goals at a rate of 3.4 a game, and this evening will have Erling Haaland bearing down on them. Spain have bounced back from their Scott-McTominay-infused defeat at Hampden by ramming seven past Georgia and six past the aforementioned Cypriots. Meanwhile Scotland are coming off the back of a no-show at the 150th Anniversary Heritage Match against England. So none of that’s ideal.
On the flip side, Scotland are on a run of five straight wins in Group A. They’re nine unbeaten in competitive fixtures, a sequence that featured promotion to the top tier of the Nations League. And perhaps most importantly of all, you can never write off any team that boasts the aforementioned goal machine McTominay. Never. Ask anyone from Batumi to Barcelona to Brentford about that. You just can’t.
So fingers crossed. And if anyone in dark blue can score a goal even half as good as the one David Narey managed across town at the Benito Villamarín during Copa Mundial de la Fifa España 1982™, so much the better. Kick off is at 7.45pm BST, 8.45pm at the Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla. It’s on!
