The Spain of Luis de la Fuente had a seized engine in the second corner, Scotland’s victory in Glasgow was as unappealable as the defeat of the red, the first of this new era, was deserved. The Scots used all their weapons, who had not knocked down the Spanish in an official duel since 1984, and it gave the impression that their rival was not prepared for such a battle. Clarke’s were eleven Gavis against a rival with his only Gavi on the bench. What a paradox.
The match in the Spanish ranks leaves a very bad taste in the mouth, which completely dissipates the positive effect of the victory against Norway. The new project falters as soon as it starts and the coach’s work accumulates, unable to find answers in a game that was difficult for him from the beginning.
There was no truce in Hampden Park, neither in the noisy stands nor on the pitch, where the Scottish footballers applied themselves with brutal intensity, as if earning their way to be recruited for Braveheart, drawing an eighties-flavored duel against an outmatched rival, too cute. De la Fuente’s experimental team did not fit well in this scenario, which applied up to eight changes to its lineup compared to Saturday, keeping only the goalkeeper and the two midfielders. Among them, two rookies such as Pedro Porro and David García, and no Barça player. The new coach marks distances with his predecessor, there is no doubt, but games like this do not support him in any way.
That very British roar from the stands with each throw-in, with each recovery of his team, turned into an explosion as soon as it began. Pedro Porro slipped, Robertson grabbed the ball, got into the area and gave it to McTominay to cross it into the net with the help of Iñigo Martínez. The night could not start worse for Spain. Scotland won the prize for a great start, in which they dominated the ball. Scotland looked like Spain and vice versa. Taking advantage of the candidness of the Spanish defense, Christie even touched the second after driving the ball many meters without opposition as if it were on a deserted highway.
The national team took a long time to land in the game and to realize what the film was about. Little by little he took possession of possession, without much fanfare, yes. The terrible state of the green didn’t allow it either. But without taking off the Scottish disguise, the only argument of De la Fuente’s men came in aerial plays. And there, Joselu proved to be quite an artist, earned ownership of him. The Spanish player finished off a cross from Gayá very focused and, just a few moments later, he ran into the crossbar after another good transfer from Merino.
By then, Porro had become the punching bag of the Scottish public and some of its players due to a small scuffle with Robertson, who responded by giving him an ugly nudge without the ball. The rookie brought character out of him and forced Gunn to show off with a long shot, but he kept hearing a lot of whistles every time he touched the ball. Before the break, Joselu claimed a penalty for a very clear grab before which VAR, more European than ever, turned off the television. And Dykes was winning the race from David García to scare Kepa to death.
The duel required the intervention of the coach, who introduced a couple of changes at halftime to try to shake up the game. Nico Williams proved to be a valid argument to make the Scots uncomfortable, not so much Carvajal. And it is that there was a déjà-vu because once again the Spanish right-back, this time the Real Madrid player, made a mistake that ended with a run by Tierney and McTominay’s shot on goal. The debacle was absolute. Even the crossbar allied with Kepa in a free kick by McGinn.
The only Spanish response was a high shot from Aspas. He finally turned De la Fuente to Gavi, to see if he would at least match the Scottish intensity, but it was too late. The locals defended themselves ordered and there were no arguments in front to refute them. The destination was marked. And he had nothing good prepared for the Spain of De la Fuente. His project is in question. In June he will have to rectify.
2 – Scotland: Gunn; Porteous, Hanley, Tierney (Cooper, m.75); Hickey (Patterson, m.82), McTominay, McGregor, McGinn (Ferguson, m.83), Robertson; Christie (MacLean, m.74); and Dykes (Shankland, m.90).
0 – Spain. Kepa; Pedro Porro (Carvajal, m.45), David Garcia, Inigo Martinez, Gaya; Rodriguez, Mikel Merino (Iago Aspas, m.57); Jeremy, Ceballos (Gavi, m.79), Oyarzabal (Nico Williams, m.45); and Joselu (Borja Churches, m.67)
Goals: 1-0, m.7: McTominay. 2-0, m.51: McTominay.
Referee: Sandro Schärer (Switzerland). He admonished Robertson (m.27), Dykes (m.34), Gunn (m.76) and McTominay (m.96), for Scotland, and Carvajal (m.68) and Aspas (m.84), for Spain . . . .
Incidents: second match of group A qualifying for Euro 2024 played at Hampden Park stadium, Glasgow. Full, with 47,976 spectators.
