There will be inevitable exaggeration about what this loss means for Scotland. A blunt reality is that the second tier is actually a far more sensible environment for a team of this level. It is merely that the circumstances by which Scotland fell – or, rather, crashed – out of League A were so utterly striking. Steve Clarke’s team were thoroughly outplayed by Greece, who within 30 second-half seconds had rampaged into a 3-0 lead. The Tartan Army appeared more stunned than furious. Greece will be rubbing their hands at facing Scotland again on upcoming World Cup qualifying business.
This was an evening on which no part of the Scotland team functioned properly. They were slack in defence, non-creative from midfield and powder puff in attack. The star of the show was 17-year-old Konstantinos Karetsas, who is unlikely to remain at Genk for long. This baby-faced assassin tortured the Scots.
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It seemed incredible to recall that Scotland had actually started reasonably brightly. Scott McTominay came close to opening the scoring twice inside the opening 10 minutes. Greece, who were highly unfortunate to lose the first leg of this tie, were soon to show their ruthlessness.
Karetsas’s first action saw him feed Georgios Vagiannidis on the right flank. The full-back crossed for Giannis Konstantelias, who found himself in blissful isolation. A first-time shot left Craig Gordon helpless.
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Gordon was again collecting the ball from his net as Karetsas curled a glorious shot into the top corner. This time Karetsas was the Greek player under no pressure, Andy Robertson being drawn away from him and towards the ball which Konstantelias flicked to his young teammate.
Scottish hopes of salvation were extinguished almost from the second-half kick-off. Ryan Christie’s loose pass was intercepted by Konstantelias, who found the marauding Christos Tzolis. With the offside trap beaten, Tzolis did likewise to Gordon.
The Scottish support made plain their unrest as Billy Gilmour was substituted. John Souttar prevented a Greece fourth from his own goalline. Scottish inadequacy had already been exposed sufficiently by Greece. They deserve their spot in League A. Clarke has much to ponder.
