Important events
13 minutes: Fernandes is fouled by Ralston in midfield. As the two taunt each other, Leao is sent out on the left to win a quick free kick. His cross is deflected and there is a corner that comes to nothing. Portugal responded to the goal by coming back in Scotland. hard.
11 minutes: Leao is certainly the better player for Ralston on the left. He reaches the byline and cuts back to Jota, who cannot force a shot on goal. Scotland have a clear path. Portugal will cause a lot of trouble on this side.
9 minutes: That’s McTominay’s 11th goal for Scotland. It’s almost immediately equalised by Leao, who cuts past Ralston, Gilmour and Hanley on the left and puts a shot into the side netting. Gunn had it covered but what a run.
GOAL! Portugal 0-1 Scotland (McTominay 7)
A shock! Scotland score! Not so surprising: It’s McTominay who scores. Portugal only half clear a free kick. McLean picks up the ball on the left. He shoots a majestic cross into the box. McTominay, timing his run perfectly behind a static defensive line, comes from the right to the edge of the six-yard box and heads it powerfully past Diogo Costa into the top left corner! What a great goal!
6 minutes: Fernandes plays a clever pass from the left into midfield. Silva plays the ball further into the middle to Jota, who can’t quite manage the edge of the box and shoots the ball wide to the right.
5 minutes: …not much. But it’s a decent few minutes for Scotland, who haven’t had much opportunity before. Hopefully it calms them down.
4 minutes: McTominay takes a quick free kick in the middle of the pitch and sends McGinn off to the left. The referee considers stopping play – the ball was probably rolling when McTominay took the free kick – but decides against it and McGinn is awarded a corner. This corner leads to another, which leads to…
2 minutes: Portugal play as if they own the game. And in a way, they do. Bernardo Silva drops down the right and tries to find Pedro Neto with a nice pass into the middle, but the ball is too strong and flies to Gunn. There is a big gap in the Scottish defense.
Scotland gets the ball rolling. The Estádio da Luz makes a rare old noise.
The teams are out! Portugal wears red and green, while Scotland wears the second choice “light mint blue with purple”, which is intended to symbolise (adjusts pince-nez, squints) “A new take on the tartan with fresh colours and a quirky pattern randomly scattered across the sides and back.” Lord Rosebery will be turning in his grave. However, once the patriotic folk songs are sung, we’re off and away.
This is where A1 stands after the first round of play. Scotland will visit Croatia and host Portugal during the October break; in November they welcome Croatia to Hampden before travelling to Poland.
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Poland P1 S1 U0 N0 T3 A2 Pt 3
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Portugal P1 S1 U0 N0 T2 A1 Pt 3
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Scotland P1 S0 D0 L1 T2 A3 Pts 0
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Croatia P1 S0 U0 N1 F1 A2 Pt 0
Scotland have lost four of their last five games against Portugal by an aggregate score of 12-2. The other meeting ended goalless. Their last victory over the Portuguese came in March 1980, when Andy Gray, Kenny Dalglish, Steve Archibald and Archie Gemmill scored in a 4-1 victory over Hampden. Here’s what happened the last time all the teams met…
Personnel: Scots unchanged, Ronaldo on the bench
Scotland has fielded the same eleven that started against Poland. The audience demands more Ben Doak and Ryan Gauld, but Steve Clarke, the eternal showman, leaves the audience wanting more.
Portugal, meanwhile, made four changes to its team after its 2-1 win against Croatia. Cristiano Ronaldo and Diogo Dalot are resting on the bench, while Vitinha and Gonçalo Bernardo Inácio are missing completely; Nélson Semedo, António Silva, João Palhinha and Diogo Jota are joining the team.
The teams
Portugal: Costa, Semedo, Dias, Silva, Palhinha, Fernandes, Silva, Leão, Mendes, Neto, Jota.
Scotland: Gunn, Ralston, Hanley, McKenna, Robertson, Gilmour, McLean, Christie, McTominay, McGinn, Dykes.
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy).
preamble
Well, Thursday evening wasn’t quite so ideal… if nothing else, events followed the traditional character-driven narrative structure: a brave performance, a glimmer of hope, a slap in the face at the end. And now, having lost what was on paper their easiest game in League A1, the Scots have been on the back foot from the start. Tonight the task goes from the easiest to the hardest: away to Portugal, the eighth best team in the world, led by a man who has scored 131 international goals. Good luck, Steve. Good luck, gentlemen. Kick-off is at 19:45 (BST). It’s on!
