As the clock edged towards midnight, Steve Clarke finally approached the podium in the press conference room at Stuttgart Arena. The inquest into Scotland’s Euro 2024 campaign was about to commence, a process likely to extend well beyond that night. However, Clarke’s post-match briefing was brief, lasting just five minutes and four seconds.
The Scotland manager was visibly “disappointed and sad, the same as everyone else who is Scottish I’d imagine,” following the 1-0 defeat to Hungary. This loss marked Scotland’s twelfth first-round exit from a major finals, a streak stretching back to 1954.
Clarke’s disappointment was palpable, but so was his anger. His ire was directed at the officiating, particularly the decision not to award a penalty when substitute Stuart Armstrong was bundled over.
The appeals, which Clarke deemed “very legitimate,” were dismissed by Argentinian referee Facunda Tello, and the incident wasn’t reviewed by the VAR team. Clarke described this as the defining moment of the game and, potentially, Scotland’s entire championship campaign. Hungary’s substitute Kevin Csoboth scored the winning goal in the 100th minute, shortly after the contentious non-call.
Clarke expressed bewilderment at the choice of a South American referee for a European tournament, though this was not unprecedented. Fernando Rapallini, another Argentinian, officiated at Euro 2020 under a job-sharing agreement between UEFA and CONMEBOL.
Clarke, however, was not a supporter of this arrangement. “In a European competition it might have been better to have a European referee,” he said. “But we had European VAR. Maybe the referee didn’t see the challenge clearly on the pitch but what’s the purpose of VAR if they’re not going to come in on something like that. It’s a penalty.”
Clarke was unequivocal in his assessment: “It’s 100 per cent a penalty. Somebody somewhere has to explain to me why that’s not a penalty. It’s 100 per cent and in a one-goal game, had we got that penalty, it could have been a different night. I’ve got other words but I’m not going to use them.”
Scotland’s lack of goals was always likely to be their undoing, and so it proved. They managed just two goals in three games, one an own goal and the other a deflection off an opposition player. Against Hungary, they had just one shot on goal, a missed effort from Che Adams.
When asked if the limited number of players capable of scoring was a concern, Clarke responded: “Not for us. I think it’s very difficult to sit here and analyse and I understand why you are asking the question. But sometimes after a defeat like that you need a bit of time to digest everything and work out how the game went and why it went that way.”
“We had a lot of the ball and we probably didn’t create enough. But we did create enough chances before the goal – that’s clear. Is that why we went out of the tournament? Well, we scored two goals this time and we only scored one the last time.”
“But it’s something for me to go away and think about and speak to my coaches, to try to work on something going into the future as to how we can score more goals at certain times in games.”
Clarke did not fault his players’ effort, acknowledging that they gave their all. However, in the final analysis, they were simply not good enough. The group standings reflected the initial seedings. “We gave it everything and I don’t think you could fault the effort,” Clarke said.
“It was a very tough game against a good opponent. It was very close and it was always going to be decided by the first goal. You could tell that after the first half an hour.”
“Unfortunately for us, when we opened up towards the end of the game to try and chase the win that we felt we needed to get to the next stage, we got caught on the counter to lose 1-0. But I don’t think there was anything between the two teams.”
Clarke refrained from blaming injuries, although they undoubtedly affected Scotland’s chances. Key players like Kieran Tierney were sorely missed in the final, crucial game. “I never speak about injuries,” he stated. “It is my default. Maybe when we go away, maybe when we sit down over a cup of coffee in three or four weeks’ time or whenever it is, maybe then we can discuss the impact of the people who weren’t here. I would much rather just be sad here with people who are here, it is more important to me at this moment in time.”
As the dust settles on Scotland’s Euro 2024 campaign, the disappointment lingers. Clarke and his team face a period of reflection and analysis, contemplating what could have been and planning for the future.