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40 min: Pavlidis goes down off the ball. He wants treatment. Meanwhile the Scotland fans are booing loudly, the result of Greece having been given the ball back after a previous stoppage, when it should have been Scotland’s throw.
38 min: … so it turns out it was McGinn who was booked earlier, something neither the TV director nor Opta realised at the time. Or me, to be fair. Hands up!
36 min: … nothing happens for Scotland. If we’re being honest with ourselves, a 1-1 scoreline would have been utterly absurd. But that’s football, and for the first time Greece have been given something to think about. Small acorns.
35 min: Robertson powers down the left and fires a low cross towards the near post, where Adams waits to tap home. Retsos gets back in time to turn the ball around for a corner. McGinn sends it low to the near stick, where Retsos again denies Adams. Corner two … and Ferguson sends this one long. Souttar’s presence at the far stick leads to corner number three of the sequence. From which …
33 min: Pavlidis in the action again, stretching to meet Tzolis’s cross from the left and guiding the ball into the side netting. In a parallel universe somewhere, Scotland are four down and playing with ten men.
31 min: Ferguson flaps his fingers in the face of Pavlidis. He’s shown a yellow card … but doesn’t walk, which suggests he wasn’t booked earlier. Strange, because that’s how the TV captions had it back then. Anyway, he’s certainly on a yellow now.
30 min: Incidentally, Denmark are leading Belarus, much as expected, thanks to an early Mikkel Damsgaard goal. As things stand, Denmark will book their ticket for the finals tonight, while Scotland will be consigned to the play-offs.
28 min: Tzolis bombs down the right and loops a long cross to Karetsas, who can’t quite shape like Zizou in the 2002 Champions League final, but does his best to guide a volley goalwards. The ball bounces harmlessly to Gordon, but that’s Greece’s sixth attempt on target. Scotland are on nil.
27 min: Vagiannidis strides down the right and crosses hard and low. Robertson flips out for a corner. From the set piece, Retsos rises on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box and plants a header towards the bottom right. Gordon the hero again, as he tips around the post, and the whistle goes to release the pressure at the next corner. A second Greek goal seems only a matter of time.
25 min: Robertson chases after a long ball down the left in the eager-puppy style. Goal kick. Not really worthy of mention in and of itself, but that’s perhaps just the third time Scotland have reached Greece’s final third, so.
24 min: On the bright side … “The new Scotland kit is a beezer though,” suggests Simon McMahon. “Proper Scotland blue, and the three shoulder stripes reminiscent of the iconic 1970’s Holland teams. That it’s come to this already, eh?” The adidas logo is too big, though. It looks like the crest is wearing one of Devo’s hats.
22 min: Greece have played some lovely stuff. Scotland have been abject, though. The defence is getting pulled all over the shop. Without Gordon, Greece would already be out of sight.
20 min: Pavlidis spins his way down the inside-right channel. He falls over, but Tzolis picks up possession and batters again towards the top right. Gordon saves again. Tzolis gets to the rebound, sends Hanley off to the shops, then whips an effort across Gordon and wide left. Scotland are desperately hanging on.
19 min: Tzolis one-twos his way down the inside-right channel and pings a rising shot towards the top right. Gordon sticks out a strong arm to keep Scotland in this.
17 min: Hanley, presumably still running hot for some reason or another, batters a backpass out for a corner. Gordon had no chance of stopping that. He deals with the resulting set piece, though, punching clear. Hanley owes his keeper a cold one.
15 min: McGinn probes down the left and stubbornly refuses to ship possession. He’s eventually bowled over. The resulting free kick is looped long into the box by Robertson … but it’s so easy for Vlachodimos, who plucks from the sky with ease. The keeper’s then needlessly nudged in the back by an irate Hanley, who is fortunate to escape the referee’s censure. Scotland need cool heads.
13 min: Gannon-Doak suddenly bursts down the right and for a second looks like making it all the way into the box for a shot. But he hesitates upon reaching the edge, and there goes that momentum. A brief flicker of promise, though; Scotland need to take that and build on it.
12 min: Scotland try to get a grip on the situation by passing the ball patiently around the back. In truth, they’ve little option, because the Greek press pins them back. No way out.
10 min: Ferguson is booked for a late clip on Kourbelis. This is far from an ideal start.
9 min: That was really poor defending by Souttar. One long hoick down the field by Vlachodimos, and Scotland were torn apart far too easily. Greece are looking for another, too, Bakasetas winning a free kick out on the left. It’s sent into the mixer. Adams heads clear. Scotland need to gather themselves quickly.
GOAL! Greece 1-0 Scotland (Bakasetas 7)
Souttar misjudges a simple long punt down the middle, letting the ball bounce over his head, and allowing Pavlidis to tear clear. He pings a shot towards the bottom right. Gordon does very well to parry, but the rebound drops to Bakasetas, who takes a touch infield from the right before swivelling and lashing a low drive into the bottom right. Gordon no chance. A nightmare start for Scotland.
5 min: Tzolis flings a couple of crosses in from the left in short order. Gordon, playing his first football for six months, claims both confidently.
4 min: Adams chases after a long ball down the middle. He nudges Koulierakis out of the road, and he’s clear! But the referee blows for a soft foul. There was contact … but not that much. Koulierakis gets away with one there.
3 min: Now a bit of time and space for Tsimikas down the left. The early signs suggest Greece are in the mood to reclaim a bit of pride.
2 min: Karetsas, who gave Scotland the runaround on his international debut at Hampden earlier this year, drives at Robertson down the right and enters the box, but can’t make enough space to get a proper shot away. This lad’s going to be a superstar.
Greece get the ball rolling. It’s far from a full house at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis in Piraeus, home of Olympiacos. But it’s still noisy.
The teams are out! Greece in white with blue stripes, Scotland in blue with white stripes. Everyone looking real fine. We’ll be off once a Hymn to Liberty and a paean to a Flower have been sung.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke talks to the BBC. “It’s always difficult when you’ve got three good goalkeepers … Craig [Gordon] has experience … he’s been here before … a clean sheet in March … hopefully another one tonight … we have to be better on the ball [than Scotland were against Greece at Hampden last month] … more threatening going forward … they’re a very good side … you don’t start looking for a draw … you try to win every game … we’ll see what happens.”
Pre-Match Postbag: Optimism Special! “Been giving some thought to this, and have narrowed the likely sequence down according to the patented Heartbreakometer: Option 1 - the last-minute heartbreaker. Win tonight then blow it at Hampden, presumably with a last-minute own goal. Option 2 - the what-could’ve-been. Blow it tonight then put in a brilliant performance on Tuesday. I lean towards 2, since we’ve used about three years’ worth of luck against Greece recently, but other opinions/results of decades of football trauma are available” – James Humphries
“Just because it’s a cliche doesn’t mean it’s not true” – Simon McMahon
Scotland and Bologna midfielder Lewis Ferguson speaks to the BBC. “Really positive … been a good week’s training camp … we’re well-prepared and ready to go … we’ve stayed on UK time so it’s been the normal routine for a night-time game … we know we need to perform better … we know Greece are really good … we know what to expect … we’re looking forward to the game.”
Scotland have three players tiptoeing along the disciplinary tightrope. Aaron Hickey, Ché Adams and Ben Gannon-Doak are all one booking away from missing Tuesday’s game against Denmark. Any one of them would be a huge miss.
Optimism! Agitation! Anticipation! Panic! As a world of possibility opens up in front of Scotland, Ewan Murray takes a cross section of the squad’s mindset.
Scotland make six changes to the side that scraped past Belarus at Hampden last month. Craig Gordon, 42, who hasn’t played competitive football since May, replaces the absent Angus Gunn in goal. Grant Hanley, John Souttar and Aaron Hickey come into the defence, while Ryan Christie and Lewis Ferguson go into the midfield. Anthony Ralston, Kenny McLean, Jack Hendry and Scott McKenna drop to the bench, while Billy Gilmour is injured.
The teams
Greece: Vlachodimos, Vagiannidis, Retsos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas, Kourbelis, Mouzakitis, Karetsas, Bakasetas, Tzolis, Pavlidis.
Subs: Tzolakis, Mandas, Michailidis, Masouras, Kostoulas, Rota, Triantis, Hatzidiakos, Tetteh, Mantalos, Siopis.
Scotland: Gordon, Hickey, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson, Ferguson, McGinn, Christie, McTominay, Gannon-Doak, Adams.
Subs: Kelly, Bain, Tierney, Irving, Dykes, Hendry, Barron, McKenna, Hirst, Shankland, Ralston, McLean.
Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain).
Preamble
It feels strange, but Scotland find themselves in a reasonably comfortable position. They’re already guaranteed at least a place in the play-offs to qualify for next year’s World Cup, so they’re now able to have a proper, relatively stress-free, lunge at the big prize: first spot, automatic qualification, a ticket to the finals for the first time since 1998. All (ahem) they need to do, assuming Denmark see off Belarus tonight, is come away from Greece with at least a point, then beat the Danes at Hampden on Tuesday. A tough ask, but far from a pipe dream.
1. Denmark P4 W3 D1 L0 F12 A1 Pts10
2. Scotland P4 W1 D1 L0 F7 A2 Pts10
3. Greece P4 W1 D0 L3 F7 A10 Pts3
4. Belarus P4 W0 D0 L4 F2 A15 Pts0
The Greeks are already out, so they’ll either be disinterested or freewheeling, stroking it around without a care in the world. Seasoned followers of Scotland will have half an idea about which is the likelier, but it’s not all bad news: although Greece handed the Scots their trousers, freshly laundered, at Hampden in the second leg of the Nations League play-offs earlier this year, Steve Clarke’s side won the first leg of that tie in Piraeus, and also came from behind to win at Hampden last month in these qualifiers. And two out of three ain’t bad.
Of course, whether or not the play-offs represent much of a safety net is a moot point. Italy will be in those, for a start, and that screams a 1-0 victory for the Scots at Hampden followed by goals for the Azzurri in the 89th and 90th minutes of the second leg. But let’s cross that bridge if and when it comes. For now, automatic qualification is still in Scotland’s sight, and here’s the first hurdle. Kick-off is at 7.45pm GMT. It’s on!
