Clarke's men brought down to earth in friendly after qualifying for Euro 2024
When Billy Gilmour scored his first ever senior goal against the World Cup finalists Scotland should have trudged off the rugby-ravaged pitch of Lille’s Stade Pierre Mauroy and waved au revoir. The night was only heading one way.
A brilliant curling finish from the Brighton midfielder came after eleven minutes, capitalising on a horrendous defensive error from Eduardo Camavinga. The goal only served to wake up a host nation brimming with sublime World class players.
A full strength Scotland team would have struggled to live with the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe and co.
An under-strength starting eleven with eight changes to the side beaten in Spain conceded two soft headers to central defender Benjamin Pavard before the peerless Mbappe swept a penalty high into the net after VAR clocked a tug on the Olivier Giroud by Liam Cooper.
Substitute Kingsley Coman showed outstanding technique to smash the fourth French goal into the net as the makeshift, unrecognisable Scots were outclassed.
Beaten by England and Spain a game against France on their own ravaged turf always felt like a risky venture for Steve Clarke. Keen to expose his players to the kind of clinical brilliance they will face in Germany next summer this was a sobering reminder that reaching the finals is one thing. Competing against the world’s best is quite another.
Outside the Stade Pierre Mauroy, they erected a ring of steel. Responding to the brutal murder of two Swedish nationals in Belgium – just across the border - French authorities doubled the number of police and security men for this match to a thousand and delayed kick-off to run checks on supporters.
Meaningless friendly or otherwise there was no question of calling the game off. Surrendering to fanatics is
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