The party's over. History will have to wait for Scotland. They won hearts in Boston, but crucially fell short on the pitch. After the defeat to Brazil, their fans held on to the slim hope their they would edge through to the round of 32. But as the matches continued and results continued to go against Scotland, those hopes diminished by the game. Still the Tartan Army packed out Boston and New York, but the music had stopped.
The minute their fate was confirmed, and Scotland had yet again failed to get through their group into the knockout stages of the World Cup, the press release dropped. Just 30 days after signing a new deal through to 2030 as head coach of Scotland, Steve Clarke resigned. "The most emotional part of this goodbye is for my players, without whom we wouldn't have had any of the memories that we've accumulated from 2019 until now," Clarke said. "They deserve all the praise and adulation that they receive and it was truly an honour to be called their Gaffer." It wasn't meant to be like this. But World Cups have a horrible habit of laughing in the face of optimism. Fairytales are granted to some. Others are given a stone cold dose of reality.
Their legacy off the pitch is secured. The fans were welcomed in Boston like long lost siblings, to the point Boston and Glasgow have started the process of becoming sister cities. Wherever the Tartan Army went, intrigue followed. The local media was enthralled by these thousands of kilted, singing folk coming to their city. They learnt about "super" John McGinn. "Yes Sir, I can Boogie" had more plays over the past two weeks in America than it'd ever had previous, probably. The pubs' taps ran dry, the tills overflowed and hearts were filled. Bostonians started singing "No Scotland, no party", and the Tartan Army's impact even brought joy to Fenway Park in this grim season for the Red Sox. The local authorities even loosened social drinking rules in certain parts of the city to keep the Scottish party going.
You heard the same songs along Ocean Drive in Miami. Even on the day after the Brazil defeat, their fans were everywhere, waiting, clinging onto the ever-diminishing hope of seeing their men's side in the World Cup knockouts for the first time in their history. But it wasn't to be.
Clarke knew as much post-match on Wednesday after seeing his team lose 3-0, each goal a result of their own errors. "For sure I think we're going home," he said afterwards. Their fans hoped he was wrong, several unimpressed with how he stropped off from his post-match TV interview. But despite the disappointment, at that stage, Clarke was still in charge for the next four years.
Talking to fans in Miami on Thursday morning, they were split on Clarke. Several were quick to defend him. They pointed out how he'd steered them to major tournament qualification for Euro 2021, Euro 2024 and this World Cup, their first in 28 years. They argued their player pool is simply too small to challenge the world's best. They pointed out how hard their group was, the only one with two teams from the world's top 10. But then there's the other view: Clarke and his players came to the World Cup targeting history. They fell short. That's on Clarke and several players they felt underperformed.
Their opener against Haiti in Foxborough was always going to be about battling nerves and expectation. The Scotland players had seen the stories and videos of the Tartan Army invasion. They watched Boston dance to Scotland's tune, and they would've been overpowered by the soul-stirring rendition of "Flower of Scotland". But Scotland looked jittery on the pitch. They'd sweated on Scott McTominay's fitness in the run up to Haiti, their star player nursing a stomach bug. He was passed fit but didn't look his normal self. Before the game the big screen in Foxborough showed highlights of Scotland's famous past World Cup goals -- Archie Gemmill's famous effort against the Netherlands in 1978 received the loudest cheer, but McTominay's overhead kick against Denmark in qualification was also roared with gusto. That was the best we saw of him in America.
Against Haiti it needed McGinn's double-deflected effort to guide Scotland home. Scotland had managed just two shots on target the entire match. But still, they got the 1-0 win. Gnawing away at the back of the mind, though, was the question of goal difference, and the role that would play in determining which third-placed teams would make it through. The other two teams in Scotland's group were Morocco and Brazil, ranked sixth and fifth in the world respectively. Both were fearsome tasks.
Against Morocco, Clarke rotated out Ben Gannon-Doak -- Scotland's best player from the opening match -- and they were without injured Aaron Hickey, with Scott McKenna still sidelined. They talked about focus, blocking out the expectation and then conceded after 70 seconds. It was one ball over the top, Grant Hanley misjudging the offside line, and Bayern Munich-bound Ismael Saibari took one touch and hammered home. Morocco should've had more before half time. Scotland rallied in the second half, but just couldn't find the crucial equaliser. They managed zero shots on target.
So to Brazil. Again they were without Hickey, but crucially, McKenna returned while he started Lawrence Shankland up front over Ché Adams. But seven minutes in, their best laid plans were in ruins. McKenna's pass was intercepted by Rayan, and Vinícius Júnior eased the ball past Angus Gunn. Vinícius added a second before half time as Scotland failed to clear their lines and Gunn and Nathan Patterson misjudged a cross leaving Vinícius unmarked at the far post to head home. Their third came as Kenny McLean was disposed by Bruno Guimarães and Matheus Cunha scored. At full time a few of Scotland's players collapsed to the ground, completely desolate.
Looking back on the tournament, you wonder if Clarke regrets not giving it more of a go against Morocco. With the benefit of hindsight, Gannon-Doak should've started there. They've looked uncertain at the back, and made some brutal self-inflicted errors. Lewis Ferguson impressed in midfield, but McTominay didn't look his usual self. And their lack of a clear first-choice No. 9 debilitates them. For every Scotland supporter who said Shankland should start, you'd find others arguing for Adams, Lyndon Dykes, Ross Stewart (who barely got a look-in) or even pining for Oli McBurnie, who missed out on the squad.
They simply didn't have the quality when they needed it most. Andy Robertson is an impressive captain, while John McGinn typically gave it his all, but once you get past the first-choice team, there's a drop in quality in some areas. It's a long-term project to correct these shortcomings.
Post-match on Wednesday, Clarke was asked whether Scotland had to find a way to match the physicality and technique of other teams. "When you see the physicality, power and technique of Brazil and Morocco -- you see we have to do something about it," Clarke said. "We have to be better at producing young players that can grace the world stage."
The team returned to Charlotte on Thursday, preparing for 48 hours of purgatory. "We need to see who does what," Kieran Tierney said post-match. "We're waiting on favours, so we'll be supporting the teams that we need to support to get us through." But many of their family members headed home on Thursday, while the players remained out of necessity given Scotland weren't mathematically out of the tournament. By Saturday, still they stayed, locked away; meanwhile Opta had their percentage chance of qualification as 0.07%, down from 71% pre-Brazil. After the day's early kick offs finished, that was enough to cement their tournament's fate.
Clarke said he wanted to live every moment of this tournament, having admitted that he found the past two Euros hard to enjoy. You can't imagine he succeeded in that goal. Robertson said their team's motto was no regrets. Again, they'll be left with nightmares of the errors they made at key moments. The Tartan Army will leave the States with lifelong memories. Boston will always remember the time Scotland took over their lovely city with fondness. You just wonder how the team will compartmentalise a tournament where they arrived in hope and left just as the knockouts were getting going.