It wasn’t the perfect start Scotland was surly-looking for in their opener as they succumbed to a 0-2 defeat against the Czech Republic in front of the Scottish crowd. The 23 years of wait finally ended in pain for the fans. Despite creating enough chances there wasn’t anyone to finish it for Steve Clarke’s side.
The Czech Republic earned their first win against Scotland since October 2010 and Scotland have lost their opening match in five of their last six appearances at a major tournament. And also failing to open the scoring sheet in that run.
Clarke might have missed Arsenal’s Tierney who was injured with a niggle and hoping that he would be available for the England clash. However, he should have kept Southampton’s Che Adams in the starting XI who is amongst the prolific goal-scorers for the side. These are amongst the players who are the natural playmakers. And that completely lacked in front of the Czech Republic.
Robertson and McTominay were certainly the star of the match for their nation and tried enough to go over the victory line. The former best chance came at 17′ when his wonderful cross was straight to Dykes. But Queen Park Ranger’s forward couldn’t able hold the ball and find the back of the net.
Another few opportunities were when Liverpool’s left-back and Hendry both clipped the crossbar just after halftime. Sevilla FC goalkeeper Vaclik made an outrageous save to deny Robertson again. The fans went before the match with high expectations. Those were the unlucky moments for them and they should have done better dealing with those opportunities. It was not their day, players giving everything but yielded no result in the end.
Scotland was left stunned by Patrik Schick.
Bayer Leverkusen’s striker Patrik Schick were amongst the game changers for Czech Republic. He opened the goal-scoring sheet for the Czechs with a thumping header in the far post just before halftime assisted by Coufal. A few minutes later, things even got worse for the Scotts as Schick produced an absolute stunner from a long range. He saw Marshall off his line and tried his luck from the halfway line by whipping a lofted left-footed strike. This goal must go in the history of the greatest goal in the UEFA Competitions.
Scotland are now at the bottom of the table on goal difference after the defeat. Despite being roared on by the raucous crowd they failed to send the fans home happy. Now they next travel to Wembley Stadium to face England in an important clash to keep the hopes alive for the knockout stages.
