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Steve Clarke says Scotland have put a marker down in their bid to qualify for Euro 2024 after securing a famous 2-0 victory over Spain at Hampden Park, but he warned there is still a long way to go to seal qualification.

Scott McTominay scored a double as the Scots secured a first win over Spain since 1984 to take control of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

Clarke’s men now sit top of Group A after back-to-back wins, but he says there is still plenty of work to do for Scotland to reach a second straight European Championships.

“You don’t qualify with six points so we’ve got a long way to go,” he said.

“Two good performances over the nine days we’ve been together. It was important to capitalise on the home games as much as we could and we’ve managed to do that with maximum points.

“All the credit goes to the players, 16 on the pitch tonight and not one let us down. Seven players in the stand just every bit as happy as everyone else.

“We have a good group and we’re working hard to get better and better. Tonight was a chance to put our mark on the group.

“We want to be competitive against the top teams and that’s what we did.”

He added: “It should give the players more belief.

“That’s the last two top teams, Spain and Norway in World Cup qualifying, have come to Hampden and left with no points so that’s a step forward in terms of believing in what we’re trying to do.

“It’s very important to stay grounded as there’s still a long way to go in the group and, as we know to our cost, one game can cost you dearly.”

‘The manager told us this was our chance’

Scotland hero McTominay continued his good scoring form, netting twice for the second straight game, and the Manchester United midfielder revealed that manager Clarke told the players they had a chance to create their own legacy against Spain.

“We did really, really well,” he said. “We knew they’d have lots of the ball, and the manager said to be clinical when we had the opportunities, and I thought we had enough opportunities tonight to really hurt them and score some goals.

“As a kid, I was an attacking midfielder – I like to get in the box. I’ve got to keep doing that, I know I can add more goals and assists to my game.

“Look at this place – I’ve never seen anything like it, incredible.

“The manager said this is our chance to create legacies as Scotland players and these are the nights in 20, 30 years that people remember. We can’t thank the fans enough.”

‘Clarke deserves so much credit’

Former Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall, who watched Scotland’s win over Spain for Sky Sports News, believes the Scots now have a great blend of youth and experience in the squad and says manager Clarke deserves plenty of credit for the changes he’s made.

“It’s easy to say how well it has gone when you are winning games,” Marshall said.

“Initially we struggled. We won our first game under Clarke but then we had Belgium and Russia twice and lost four games.

“He made a lot of changes to the squad. He knew exactly what he wanted and what type of character he wanted within the squad, and he built it.

“It was a real close-knit squad that got us to the Euros and with international football there is always a lot of turnover but he’s added to it.

“There are fantastic young players coming in and it is just a great mix. It’s a great blend of players and the manager has to take enormous credit for what he’s done. It’s so big for Scotland that he’s signed a new contract.

“We’ve had plenty of disappointments in the past but that is a huge win. Let’s hope we can kick on now, qualify for Euro 2024 and then make it a regular occurrence at major tournaments.

He added: “Clarke doesn’t show much emotion. He’s very much for the players. He backs his players, and that dressing room will be bouncing.

“It will be an extremely happy camp after that.

“The tactics were spot on and Spain didn’t really lay a glove on Scotland. The win could have been by more and a huge amount of credit has to go to the manager.”

‘The way they play is rubbish’

Spain had not been beaten in Euro qualifying since 2014, when they were beaten 2-1 by Slovakia ahead of the 2016 tournament in France.

They had won 34 of their last 38 European qualifying matches, with three draws, but at Hampden Park they looked unsettled.

Man City midfielder Rodri skippered a side featuring eight changes from their previous game, and he criticised the way Scotland went about their work.

“We did many good things to win,” he said on Viaplay. “We conceded easy goals – this is football, if you concede easy goals you are penalised.

“It’s the way they play, but for me it’s rubbish, always wasting time, provoking you, always they fall. For me, this is not football. The referee has to take on this, but he says nothing.

“We will learn for the next time. We want to go for duels, for battles – we always fight, but this is not about fighting. It’s about wasting time – four, five players on the floor, but this depends on the referee, not on us.

“Today we did many good things, but what’s important is the goal, and we didn’t score.”

It was a tough night for us. We couldn’t take advantage of our chances and they got the goals in transitions.

‘Euros qualification is now realistic for Scotland’ | Steve Clarke created togetherness

Opta stats: A first win over Spain since 1984, five wins in a row at home – Scotland’s stunning night in stats…

• Scotland earned their first win over Spain since November 1984 (3-1 in a World Cup qualifier), while this was just their third ever competitive victory against them (1957, 1984 and 2023).
• Scotland have won five consecutive home matches for the first time since September 2006-October 2007, when they won six in a row between tenures of Walter Smith and Alex McLeish.
• Spain suffered their first defeat in a Euro qualifying match since October 2014 (1-2 v Slovakia), having won 17 of their last 19 such fixtures (D2) and never conceding more than once in a game in this run.

What’s next?

Scotland’s next Euro 2024 qualifiers are in June.

They are away to Norway on June 17 before a match against Georgia at Hampden Park on June 20.

The International Olympic Committee has recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete under a neutral flag – but has yet to make a decision on Paris 2024.

The IOC’s executive board has also told international federations and event organisers that athletes and support personnel who actively support the war in Ukraine, or who are contracted to the military, should not be permitted to compete.

Regarding next year’s Olympics in Paris and the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026, the IOC said it would take a decision “at the appropriate time”.

It added it would “closely monitor the full implementation” of its recommendations, with compliance being an “important factor” in its future decision on the upcoming summer and winter Games.

“Participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports in international competitions works,” said IOC president Thomas Bach.

“We see this almost every day in a number of sports, most prominently in tennis but also in cycling, in some table tennis competitions.

“We see it in ice hockey, handball, we see it in football and in other leagues in the United States but also in Europe and we also see it in other continents.

“In none of these competition security incidents have been happening.”

On Tuesday the IOC noted that in its deliberations the “70 other ongoing armed conflicts and wars” globally were considered, adding that the national Olympic committees in those affected areas were not requesting any exclusion of athletes.

On Friday, Ukraine’s sports minister Vadym Guttsait accused the IOC of “double standards” over its suggestion that Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete at Paris 2024.

The IOC’s sanctions on Russia and its ally Belarus – implemented following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – “remain firmly in place”.

As part of these sanctions, no international sporting events can be organised in either of the nations, while their flags, national anthems or any other national symbol must not be used.

The IOC reiterated its condemnation of Russia’s invasion, and has tripled its solidarity fund for Ukraine’s national Olympic committee to £6.1m.

However, it has also reiterated its “firm rejection of any political interference in the autonomous authority of sports organisations to decide on participation in their competitions”.

This month, it said the UK government should “respect the autonomy of sport” after it asked sponsors to support a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes at Paris 2024.

UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer wrote a letter to UK chief executives of the IOC’s 13 worldwide partners saying the regimes “must not be allowed to use sport for their propaganda purposes”.

“Sports organisations must have the sole responsibility to decide which athletes can take part in international competitions based on their sporting merits and not on political grounds or because of their passports,” said the IOC on Tuesday.

Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Games if a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes is not upheld.

Several nations – including Great Britain – boycotted this month’s Women’s World Boxing Championships after Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to compete under their countries’ flags, while on Tuesday more than 300 international fencers signed an open letter calling for the ban to be upheld and for the “notion of neutrality” to be rejected.

The IOC’s recommendations were soon criticised from both sides, with Poland’s deputy foreign minister Piotr Wawrzyk calling a “day of shame” for the organisation.

Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky said: “We must not close our eyes to reality. Russian sport is centrally managed by the Kremlin. The Russian regime does not know what fair play is.

“Its athletes do not belong in the Olympic Games.”

Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, said the recommendations were “absolutely unacceptable”.

MADRID SPAIN MASTERS 2023

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XD : Rinov Rivaldi/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari

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