“It's a one in a million shot unfortunately. Instead it was goals either side of half-time that did for them. It seemed the Tartan Army would be rallying. Moments earlier ‘Flower of Scotland’ rang out as the fans believed that, instead, the equalising goal was coming and with Tomas Kalas slicing a clearance under pressure that was only just clawed out by goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik. Very nice, indeed. There were also six seconds between Hendry’s effort and Schick’s goal. To add insult to that injury Schick later said he had observed that Marshall strayed off his line. “I knew he stayed very high so when the ball came I just did a quick check - where is he standing, I saw him out so I tried and it was a nice goal,” he explained. Scotland were caught out, goalkeeper David Marshall was way out of his area but still Schick’s left foot shot had remarkable loop, bend and dip as it flew into the net with a forlorn Marshall following the ball like a trapped fish. It came soon after Jack Hendry was unlucky as he struck the cross-bar from the edge of the penalty area and maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through the defender that led to him shooting again only for the unwise, speculative effort to be charged down and rebound straight to Schick. The last time Scotland played in a finals it was before the social media age, a year before Google was launched and the internet was only available on dial-up, but Schick was ‘trending’ after his second intervention which will be a clear contender for goal of the tournament. While schools had the discretion to let their pupils watch by deeming the fixture a “cultural event” it was the football team that was delivered a lesson as to what is required. Instead they had Lyndon Dykes of Queens Park Rangers and he proved maddeningly wasteful. ![]() ![]() They had chances, plenty of chances but they do not have a striker anywhere near Schick’s quality. Scotland kicked off 8,392 days after their last involvement in a major tournament ended, on the evening of Jin St Etienne in a humiliating defeat by Morocco, an absence that spans four decades and a nation expected a nation craved to be re-connected. The Czechs have a fine pedigree at the Euros and they showed it as they prepare to face Croatia. Scotland now head to Wembley to face England knowing they cannot afford another defeat if they are to progress. At the final whistle there was even a smattering of boos – what a far cry from the celebratory mood at kick off – with coach Steve Clarke standing still in disbelief with his hands behind his back. ![]() And then it was all too sadly familiar, also.Īfter the long wait they suffered from the longest goal with an extraordinary and audacious strike from Patrik Schick as the forward scored from 49.7 yards – the furthest on record in a major finals – to add to a fine header as he led the Czech Republic to a deserved victory in Group D.Īs good as those finishes were both resulted from naïve mistakes from the over-anxious Scots who seemed affected rather than inspired. ![]() The anticipation, the renditions, the crowd, the emotion, the noise, it was all so memorable after 23 years of being outside and looking in as World Cups and European Championships have passed them by. Scotland got everything right but the football. Reading this on the Telegraph app? Sign up for Euro 2020 notifications here.Patrick Schick scores twice, the second a 49-yard chip.Czech Republic top group D after silencing Hampden Roar.
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