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03:32 PM
And finally … Steve Clarke
It was quite an even game, I don’t think there was much in it.
They were a little bit more clinical with their chances. Losing the goal with a second-phase set play was disappointing and we went in at half-time on the back foot, then the boy’s hit a wonderful strike from just inside our half. It was a shot that got blocked that fell perfect for them. So those moments went against us.
When we had our chances to get back, we didn’t take them. It’s a good learning experience. We didn’t come here to learn, but you still learn your lessons, that’s what happens. I thought we played decent.
Lots to learn for everybody. I’ll have a good think about it. We’ll go back to base camp, lick our wounds for 24 hours, then get ready for Friday.
03:26 PM
Patrik Schick up next on that goal
I saw the keeper off his line, I checked already in the first half. I thought maybe this situation will come. I knew he stays very high, so when the ball came, I quickly checked where he was standing, and it was a nice goal.
03:20 PM
Andrew Robertson speaks
The whole country wanted us to get off to a good start. We were confident and excited.
It all comes down to not taking our chances. You can’t say we’ve not created. We’ve had some really good chances that on another day we should have done better with. If you do better on that, it’s a different game. For our first game at the highest level in a very long time, it’s a tough lesson for us.
The first one, we shouldn’t concede from second balls at set pieces. It’s a good header but we have to be stronger. The second one, it’s a one in a million shot. It knocked the stuffing out of us.
03:15 PM
The player ratings are in
Scotland player ratings: Andrew Robertson the stand-out man in Czech Republic defeat
03:14 PM
John McGinn speaks
We got beat, so we were disappointed. We played pretty well in the first half without threatening them too much. We got in behind them. The first goal was a poor one to lose. Brilliant header, but you don’t want to lose from a set play or the second phase of it.
The second one’s a brilliant strike, but we can do better. We can sit here and say we played all right, and we did play all right, and the 2-0 scoreline flatters them a wee bit. But they found the quality at the right moments and we need to find that on Friday. We can either sulk about it, or go to Friday with the same attitude.
I don’t think it’s a reality check. We played pretty well. It’s important we don’t sulk too much.
03:13 PM
Stuart Armstrong speaks
It was a difficult one, the game was very compact, particularly the first half. There wasn’t much space. Disappointed the way the first goal went in from a set-piece, they’ve shown real quality for the second goal. We had chances in the second half, missing a bit of luck and they were clinical.
These little things didn’t go our way, we made chances and were unlucky not to have one but you need things to go your way. We need to learn from what happened today, it’s a tough one. We need to make tweaks. It’s a clean slate on Friday, fundamentally there were some good things about today.
We need to analyse it but not dwell on it.
03:05 PM
Apologies
My ’52 yards’ was a bit out. Need a new theodolite.
02:58 PM
Full time SCO 0 CZE 2
Twenty-three years since their last tournament and 25 and counting since their last victory (over Switzerland at Euro 96). They were simply outplayed in the second half. Good organisation, one world-class player and two very good ones can’t overcome the general weakness of the squad. Put a £40m striker in that mix and things could be very different but they were just not efficient enough in front of goal. Czech Republic had a throughbred centre-forward and Scotland wilted after Schick’s second goal and after squandering a handful of very presentable chances.
02:53 PM
90+4 min SCO 0 CZE 2
As they show again when Nisbet’s back-post header from Robertson’s cross strikes the excellent Kalas.
02:52 PM
90+2 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Four minutes to salvage a Monday night boogie but Scotland’s race today is run. They just haven’t been clinical enough in front of goal.
02:50 PM
90 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Marshall makes a good save from Vydra who tried to prod in Coufal’s cut-back with his left foot from 12 yards. Marshall turned away the angled, first-time shot.
02:48 PM
89 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Two more changes for the Czechs: Sevcik replaces Schick and Krmencik comes on for the captain, DArida.
02:47 PM
87 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Fraser slips Robertson down the left and he hits another of his deep crosses to the far post where Forrest gives up the best opportunity for a shot by trying to work it on for Adams and tying him up in what Sam Matterface calls ‘traffic’. Hmmm.
02:44 PM
85 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Dazzling dribbling from Forrest takes him slaloming into the box from the right beating two players before he jinks inside on to his left and shoots, the ball ballooning off Celustka’s superb sliding block over the bar.
02:42 PM
83 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Adams works the ball on to Nisebt and the Hibs man takes on the half-volley from 20 yards, hitting it sweetly but Kalas’ block takes the power out of it and it sails down Vaclik’s throat.
02:41 PM
81 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Schick has a decent opportunity for a hat-trick when Kral robs McGinn in midfield, moves it out to Hlozek on the left and he laces a pass to the 18-yard line for Schick. He goes for the side-foot and rolls a daisycutter straight at Marshall who stands tall long enough not to have given him room either side.
02:38 PM
79 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Another double Scotland change – Nisbet for Dykes and Forrest for O’Donnell.
02:37 PM
77 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Scotland free-kick on the right, 20 yards inside the Czech half. O’Donnell floats the cross towards the left of the box. Cooper wins the header, directs it back across the box but it won’t drop swiftly enough and McTominay shanks the half-volley he can’t get his foot on top of over the bar.
02:35 PM
75 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Kalas returns with a plaster rather than stitches. All in good time.
02:33 PM
73 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Kalas’ forehead is sliced open by Dykes, inadvertently, and he has to go off, after a delay, for stitches.
02:31 PM
71 min SCO 0 CZE 2
McTominay has gone to right centre-back.
Double Czech substitution: Vydra and Hlozek replace Jankto and Masopust.
02:30 PM
69 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Fraser wastes a couple of crossing opportunities when sent down the right.
02:29 PM
67 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Double Scotland substitution: McGregor and Fraser replace Hendry and Armstrong.
02:28 PM
64 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Dykes’ finishing lets him down again and this was a complete cuckoo, a sitter, a goose. Hendry centres from the right, Adams works it on to Dykes, in space 12 yards out and parallel to the left post. But he goes for precision rather than power and gives Vaclik the time to save it with his leg as it rolled towards goal.
02:23 PM
62 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Chance from the corner in too tight a space for Dykes who latches on to Adams’ downwards header and tries to hook a lunging shot back from the left of the ix-yard box that Vaclik dives in to save courageously in among the muck, nettles and flying studs.
02:22 PM
60 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Tough luck on Scotland who can’t catch a break in the Czech box as Armstrong bullocks through midfield and fires a shot that hits Kalas at full stretch and his leg takes it over Vaclik but also dispatches it whistling over the bar. Corner.
02:18 PM
58 min SCO 0 CZE 2
The replay of the second goal shows that Hendry’s decision to go with a long shot that rebounded so perilously for his keeper was a bit daft but not wholly his fault.
02:16 PM
56 min SCO 0 CZE 2
Lovely from Darida as Scotland are rocking here at the back to pick up a loose ball and hit a a curling, dipping right-foot shot that grazes the top of the bar.
02:14 PM
54 min SCO 0 CZE 2
That’s what £65 million buys you, Mistake from Hendry upfield at the edge of the Czech box, leaves Marshall stranded way off his line and although he scrambles back and fearlessly throws himself into the back of the net painfully to try to stop Schick’s 52-yard beautifully weighted chip, he can’t get there. Brilliant finish. Class player.
02:12 PM
GOAL!!!
Scotland 0 Czech Republic 2 (Schick)
02:11 PM
50 min SCO 0 CZE 1
Good hold-up play from Adams as he sends Robertson down the left. The captain bends over another outswinger on the run. Kalas, aware of Dykes and Armstrong behind him, tries to clear but shins it and sends it spinning back towards goal and Vaclik does brilliantly to claw it awayfrom goal diving backwards at full stretch.
02:09 PM
48 min SCO 0 CZE 1
But then Scotland give their heads a shake, wake up and attack down the left. Robertson flies down the left, whips over a cross that McGinn traps and plays a velvety pass to Hendry who bends a shot from 22 yards with his instep bang into the heart of the cross-bar.
02:07 PM
46 min SCO 0 CZE 1
Czech Republic attack straight from kick-off with Marshall forced to save twice in a minute, first from Soucek after Jankto and Darida slice through the righ of midfield and the shot comes from 20 yards. Marshall parries it to his right. McTominay is then caught in possession and allows Jankto to get a shot away from 25 yards that Marshall turns round his right post.
02:04 PM
Half-time sub
Che Adams replaces Ryan Christie. Scotland switch to 3-5-2.
02:03 PM
Forty-five minutes to follow this brief
01:56 PM
Here’s the goal
Patrick Schik is only 25 and has already been involved in £65m worth of transfers. That’s the difference between the two teams.
01:51 PM
Half-time SCO 0 CZE 1
Parity would be a fairer representation of the first half but one mistake – a defender letting a runner go – has cost them dearly. Coufal pushing on has meant Robertson hasn’t been as effective in the last 10 minutes.
01:49 PM
45 min SCO 0 CZE 1
McTominay turns up the Hampden volume with a jinking run into the box where he’s floored by Boril, though I suspect they will argue that McTominay ran into him not vice versa. Indeed, that’s the verdict of VAR.
01:47 PM
44 min SCO 0 CZE 1
‘Scotland will have to dig deep’, seems to be the punditry consensus. It’s simpler than that. Get the ball to Robertson and try to encourage Armstrong and McTominay to join Dykes in making more penetrating runs into the box.
01:45 PM
42 min SCO 0 CZE 1
From Jankto’s corner on the left, Hanley heads it out to the right. McGinn goes to close Kalas down but O’Donnell doesn’t read Coufal’s run on the overlap and when he is played down the line he gets to the corner flag on the run and whips it over to the the s=centre of goal and Schick buries a 10-yard header.
01:43 PM
GOAL!!!
Scotland 0 Czech Republic 1 (Schick)
01:43 PM
40 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Czech corner after Cooper blocks Darida’s cross from the right. It goes all across the area but Scotland are alive to the threat, mark Soucek well and make them work it over to the left where O’Donnell blocks the attempted pass to Schick for another corner.
01:41 PM
38 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Czech Republic take some sting out of the game by stroking it around at the back.
01:38 PM
36 min SCO 0 CZE 0
The replay of McGinn’s shot from the corner shows it striking Masopust’s left hand which was resting on the side of his shorts. Rightly, no pen. Back come Scotland through Robertson and he whips over another cross. Armstrong makes a deceptive run but Celustka is alive to it and heads it clear.
01:36 PM
34 min SCO 0 CZE 0
McGinn wants a penalty from the corner, claiming hand ball, but the referee shoos him away and Hanley thwarts Czech Rep’s attempt to strike on the counter with a well-timed interception.
01:35 PM
32 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Scotland open up the Czech defence down the inside-right with Christie’s canny, crossfield pass to Robertson, stepping in off the flank. Robertson, 22 yards out, goes to place a side-foot shot into the top corner but hits it too straight and Vaclik takes two steps tp his left to tip it over the bar.
01:33 PM
30 min SCO 0 CZE 0
McGinn blindsides Kral to nick the ball off the Spartak Moscow midfielder as he tried to stride out of defence with his cigar on. Too much congestion means Scotland can’t get through and have to go backwards.
01:32 PM
28 min SCO 0 CZE 0
The Czech Republic enjoy a sustained speall of possession but Scotland do well to keep them kettled in their own half nonetheless, forcing them back to Vaclik and the long ball upfield, stuck in the Wimbledon mixer, and Cooper heads it clear and then mops up again when they try a second surge.
01:29 PM
27 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Strange decision from the referee to award Coufal a free-kick for his foul on Robertson but nothing comes of it.
01:28 PM
24 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Liam Cooper, known for his long left-foot passes at Leeds, almost puts Dykes away with a fine, incisive ball upfield but Dykes, also peroxided, cannot bring it down sufficiently quickly to get a shot away.
01:26 PM
22 min SCO 0 CZE 0
One Scotland player not quite at the races so far is O’Donnell who is being given the runaround by Jankto. he is skinned again by the peroxided Sampdoria winger but Hanley meets the cross and bails his team-mate out at the price of a corner, which Scotland also defend well.
01:23 PM
19 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Excellent break from Scotland – with Armstrong and Robertson combining on a one-two and the captain whips a low cross towards Dykes. The striker takes it on first time, shooting low into the side netting, thinking there was a gap between Vaclik and his near post … which there was.
01:20 PM
17 min SCO 0 CZE 0
01:19 PM
16 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Fine save from Marshall at his near post after Jankto runs to the byline on the left and cuts it back for Schick. He strikes a sweet left-foot shot on the angle and Marshall got down smartly.
01:17 PM
14 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Robertson sweeps up at the back by running the entire width of the pitch after intercepting a Masopust pass intended for Schick and threading it out to O’Donnell.
01:15 PM
12 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Czech free-kick on the right for a tepid foul by Armstrong on Darida. Jankto takes it with his left from the right and shapes it into touch past the far post. Good marking and poor delivery let Scotland off the hook.
01:13 PM
10 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Celustka, who was a Paolo di Canio signing at Sunderland and stayed a year at the Stadium of Light, brings the ball out of defence and sends Jankto on a run. He feeds Coufal whose cross is plucked out of the Galsgow sky by Marshall.
01:10 PM
8 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Robertson whips an inswinging corner from the right that is well defended. Encouragingly energetic and assured start by Scotland.
01:09 PM
6 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Scotland look sharp, zipping the ball around and Cooper has had a couple of confident touches. O’Donnell drives up the right in pursuit of a long pass and wins a throw on the right. He takes it long, causing confusion in the box. McGinn has a glimmer of space but his hot from an angle on the right of the six-yard box – having waited an age for the ball to drop – crashes into Kalas. McGinn retrieves it, scampers up the byline and hits a left-foot cross from the right that is deflected behind for a corner.
01:06 PM
4 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Czech throw-in on the left. Boril takes, receives the return then shanks a right foot pass up the whitewash and out for a Scotland throw.
01:05 PM
3 min SCO 0 CZE 0
McTominay and Robertson play a one-two to send Robertson down the left with a nicely angled reverse pass. he hits a deep cross on the run, first-time, bending it towards the back post but Armstrong couldn’t get there before it hooped away from goal.
01:03 PM
1 min SCO 0 CZE 0
Scotland kick off, all in white with red and blue trim, Scotland in shorts to match their shirts and socks, the days of scarlet socks seem to be gone. They attack from left to right and Armstrong knocks it long for Sykes. Kalas heads it clear and a game of head tennis ensues before they work it back to Marshall.
12:57 PM
Out come the officials
Followed by Scotland and the Czech Republic teams. They emerge to an absolute, joyous racker:
And we begin with the Czech Republic national anthem.
12:50 PM
Nice message from Glasgow to a Copenhagen hospital bed
12:46 PM
Steve Clarke speaks
“It’s brilliant! A great atmosphere in the stadium. It’s fantastic to have the Tartan Army back. Small numbers, but I’m sure they’re going to make a hell of a noise.”
He is drowned out by the Hampden Roar and abandons the rest of the interview.
12:35 PM
I’ve got the BBC Scotland feed
Presume that’s the same for everyone in the UK?
12:32 PM
Let’s not forget these two met last autumn
And Scotland won 1-0:
12:27 PM
Clarke on Tierney
Says it’s only a niggle and hopes he’ll be fit for Wembley on Friday.
12:27 PM
Scotland’s John McGinn gets ready for action
12:15 PM
Tae think again …
Some handy pre-match reading … for Friday. Not at all staged …
12:06 PM
Kieran Tierney
Aggravated an ‘existing’ injury in training apparently. He missed half his first season with hip and groin injuries at Arsenal, hurt his shoulder in December 2019 and endured a long spell out at the start of the year with a knee injury. Suspect it’s the latter that must have flared up.
12:02 PM
Your teams in black and white
Scotland Marshall; Hendry, Hanley, Cooper; O’Donnell, McGinn, McTominay, Robertson; Armstrong, Christie; Dykes.
Substitutes McGregor, Gordon, Taylor, Turnbull, Nisbet, Fraser, McLaughlin, Patterson, Gilmour, Forrest, Adams, McKenna.
Czech Republic Vaclik; Coufal, Celustka, Kalas, Boril; Soucek, Kral; Masopust, Darida, Jankto; Schick.
Substitutes Kaderabek, Brabec, Barak, Holes, Krmencik, Sevcik, Mandous, Zima, Hlozek, Vydra, Mateju, Pekhart.
Referee Daniel Siebert (Germany)
11:56 AM
Tierney out
As widely flagged in the build-up, Clarke has decided to move McTominay from his role on the right of a back three into central midfield and because Kieran Tierney is not even in the 23 we assume he must be injured and Liam Cooper, the Leeds United captain, takes his place on the left of the back three with Hendry on the right and Hanley in the middle in the 3-4-2-1.
11:51 AM
And without further ado
I shall hand you over to your live match blogger, your friend and mine, the splendid Mr Rob Bagchi. TTFN – and let’s go Scotland!
11:50 AM
And here are their opponents, the Czech Republic
11:46 AM
Here are the Scotland boys
11:42 AM
Cesc Fabregas
very good on the Eriksen situation.
11:29 AM
Loch hat
11:27 AM
Few Scottish birthdays today!
Callum McGregor, who is reportedly under pressure to keep his place from Billy Gilmour, is 28.
Alan Brazil, no less, born 1959
Former Rangers man Tore Andre Flo as well
11:24 AM
Steve Clarke as a young man
11:08 AM
12,000 are allowed in
11:00 AM
Tierney and Robertson: the left-back question
One thing everyone knows about Scotland is that they have two aces at left-back. Here, Sam Dean, explains how Clarke is getting them both in his XI.
The key to maximising the ability of both has been Clarke’s three-man defence. In this shape Tierney has excelled as the left-sided centre back, while Robertson plays as a more attacking wing-back. But Tierney has the freedom to overlap and underlap from his defensive position, supporting Robertson in attack whenever he can. When Tierney pushes on, Robertson sits back. When Robertson needs options, Tierney provides back-up.
Steve Clarke finds innovative way to fit Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson into Scotland team
10:56 AM
Everything you always wanted to know
about the Scotland football team, but were afraid to ask.
It’s the great man Roddy Forsyth, who must surely know as much about this topic as any person alive.
Roddy talks you through the squad, the options, the history, the manager and all the rest.
10:52 AM
Euros Fever
10:45 AM
Andy Robertson on Christian Eriksen
Scotland captain Andy Robertson said Denmark players were “heroes” for shielding Christian Eriksen from the crowd and cameras when he received CPR on the pitch after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Euro 2020 match against Finland.
Denmark midfielder Eriksen collapsed suddenly in the 42nd minute of Saturday’s match while running near the left touchline after a throw-in. He was later rushed to the hospital.
“The way the Danish players dealt with what must have been a heart-breaking thing for all of them, they stood up to it,” Robertson said.
“That will be the picture I remember and everyone should remember because, when one of their friends was in a bad place, they stood up and protected him.
“Whatever else happens in this tournament, for me they will be the heroes.”
Jakob Hoeyer, communications director at the Danish football association, told reporters on Monday that Eriksen’s condition is still “stable, good”.
10:27 AM
1998
That was the year that they were last in it. Scotland mean. It was a day of some significance for me personally, because it was the day I finished my last exam for my degree – at the University of Edinburgh. As anyone would, I immediately went to the pub to watch them play mighty Brazil. They got a run for their money that day, the Scots. JC scored from the Scot to equalise and then poor Tommy Boyd scored the OG.
10:24 AM
Highs and lows
09:42 AM
Scotland!
Massive day for Scottish football, back in the big time after far too long, and with a tricky but winnable fixture against the Czech Republic to start them off with. Steve Clarke’s side play Czech Republic at 2pm in Hampden Park in Glasgow. It’s 58 degrees in Glasgow, with a 21 mile an hour wind and a 27% chance of rain, which I believe I am right in saying makes it officially summer. So taps aaf all around up there.
Steve Clarke’s men have some proper players, as Souey would say, this time around. John McGinn, doing so brilliantly at Aston Villa and a personal favourite of mine after his time at Hibs, is an all-action, all-round midfield force. The Scots are in the fortunate/slightly annoying position of having their other two best players play in the same, er, position. Andrew Robertson and Kieran Tierney would both get into pretty much every side in this tournament as a left back, but obviously only one of them can get into this Scottish side. Sam Dean will explore in more depth how Clarke fits everything in shortly.
With the big match coming up against England on Friday, Scotland need to probably get something here. Croatia looked a shadow of their 2018 World Cup selves against England but might come on for the run, who knows. Whichever group they were in, Scotland were not going to be among the most fancied teams but the match against England is such a specific situation that maybe they can cause an upset. Anyway, Clarke will be telling his boys to forget about that and focus on the matter at hand.
The Czechs are not at the level they were when they came 2nd in Euro 1996, or even when they were 3rd in 2004. Keep an eye out for Vladimír Darida of Hertha Berlin, he’s an absolute dynamo and holds the Bundesliga record for distance run in a match. Could be a hectic afternoon in midfield.
The Czechs favour a no-nonsense 4-2-3-1, with an all West Ham right side of Coufal and Soucek providing dangerous overloads down the right. Luckily, the left is where the Scots have THEIR best players, so it could be a great tactical battle. Kick off is at 2pm, I’ll bring you all the build up and team news until about 12.30, and then it will be over to the mighty Rob Bagchi for the match blog.
