Subs: McCracken, McCrorie, Barron, Dykes, MacKenzie, Irving, Porteous, Lindsay, Morgan, Nisbet, Gauld, Deviln.
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Portugal: Costa, Mendes, A Silva, Dias, Cancelo, Vitinha, Palhinha, Fernandes, Jota, Ronaldo, Conceição.
Subs: Velho, R Silva, Semedo, Dalot, Trincão, B Silva, Félix, Veiga, J Neves, Otávio, Leão, R Neves.
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Referee: Lawrence Visser (Belgium).
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🔢 One change from Saturday’s match.
📺 Watch live here: https://t.co/uV8bYnxPV8#SCOPOR pic.twitter.com/KpWJkViqLG
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) October 15, 2024
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O último 𝗫𝗜 𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 da Qualificação para o Europeu Sub-21! 🇦🇩🆚🇵🇹#ANDPOR | #PortugalNextGen | #U21EURO pic.twitter.com/eO6LJJvStV
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) October 15, 2024
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The top-line statistic makes for grim reading: Scotland have won just one of their last 15 matches. That solitary victory doesn’t bring much succour either, coming as it did in an extremely unconvincing 2-0 against Gibraltar, a landmass roughly similar in acreage to that infinitely more picturesque rock, the Bow Fiddle, plus neighbouring fishing villages Portknockie, Findochty and Cullen.
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Fiddle, Port Knockie.”,”caption”:”Bow Fiddle, Port Knockie.”,”credit”:”Photo: James Shooter/REX Shutterstock”} }, {“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
If this (admittedly delicious) statistic isn't enough, here's a little more background. Derbyshire, who finished last in this year's County Cricket Championship, won just one of their 14 matches. Rugby league side London Broncos are at the bottom of the Super League this season, winning three out of 27 games and one in nine. And the Carolina Panthers, the worst team in the NFL, finished last season with a 2-15 record. Things don't look good, but at least Scotland didn't trade Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour and Ben Doak for Anthony Ralston. poor Lord Parr.
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But the problem is that you can use data to push through old arguments, and the statistics don't tell the whole story. Scotland may have suffered a crushing defeat at Euro 2024, but their performances in the Nations League since then have been average at worst, and if they were a little more forgiving, they'd have great expectations. Steve Clarke's side have gone toe-to-toe with three nominally better teams in Poland, Portugal and Croatia, and have played very well for long periods in each match, only to suffer late sobriety each time. A clumsy second-half penalty here, an equalizer judged to the millimeter, an offside there and the evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo's ever-relenting nature on the other.
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Yes, Scotland could have used a little more quality, that's true, and at times they were their own worst enemy. But with a little luck, it might work once. Portugal, ranked eighth in the world, may not be the best opponent for a momentum-changing break. But Scotland's barren struggle must come to an end at some point, and Hampden is where Spain, Portugal's Iberian cousin, last lost a meaningful match. So why not do it tonight? Anyway, I'm looking forward to this. Kickoff is at 7:45 p.m. It's on!
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main events
Let me remind you how Scotland got into its latest travails. They lost 2-3 at home to Poland, lost 2-1 to Portugal and lost by the same scoreline in Croatia last weekend. So the table for group A1 looks like this…
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Portugal P3 W3 D0 L0 F7 A3 Score 9
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Croatia P3 W2 D0 L1 F4 A3 6 points
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Poland P3 W1 D0 L2 F4 A6 3 points
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Scotland P3 W0 D0 L3 F4 A7 0 points
In tonight's other match in A1, Poland welcomes Croatia to Warsaw.
Scotland made one change to their starting XI after losing 2-1 to Croatia. Che Adams replaces Lyndon Dykes up front. There are quite a few players on the bench hoping to earn their first cap tonight: Rangers midfielder Conor Barron, Aberdeen defenders Nicky Devlin and Jack McKenzie, and Preston centre-half Liam Liam. Lindsay, West Ham midfielder Andy Irving and goalkeepers John McCracken and Robbie McCrory, of Dundee and Kilmarnock respectively. John McGinn, Kieran Tierney, Aaron Hickey, Scott McKenna, Lewis Ferguson, Lawrence Shankland and Angus Gunn are all absent due to injury.
team
Scotland: Gordon, Ralston, Sarter, Hanley, Robertson, Gilmore, MacLean, Christie, McTominay, Doak, Adams.
Subs: McCracken, McCrory, Barron, Dykes, McKenzie, Irving, Porteous, Lindsay, Morgan, Nisbett, Gold, Deviln.
Portugal: Costa, Mendes, A. Silva, Diaz, Cancelo, Vicinha, Parinha, Fernandes, Jota, Ronaldo, Conceição.
Subs: Velho, R. Silva, Semedo, Dalot, Trincão, B. Silva, Felix, Veiga, J. Neves, Otavio, Leon, R. Neves.
Referee: Lawrence Visser (Belgium).
🔢One change from Saturday's game.
📺 Watch live here: https://t.co/uV8bYnxPV8#skopol pic.twitter.com/KpWJkViqLG
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) October 15, 2024
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Qualify for the European Sub-21! 🇦🇩🆚🇵🇹#andpaul | #PortugalNextGen | #U21 euro pic.twitter.com/eO6LJJvStV
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) October 15, 2024
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preamble
Looking at the key stats, Scotland have won only one of their last 15 games, which is grim. This solitary victory doesn't bring much relief either, as does the extremely unconvincing 2-0 result against Gibraltar. Gibraltar is home to its endlessly beautiful rock, Bow Fiddle, and the neighboring fishing villages of Portknockie, Findoch and Cullen.
If this (admittedly delicious) statistic isn't enough, here's a little more background. Derbyshire, who finished last in this year's County Cricket Championship, won just one of their 14 matches. Rugby league side London Broncos are at the bottom of the Super League this season, winning three out of 27 games and one in nine. And the Carolina Panthers, the worst team in the NFL, finished last season with a 2-15 record. Things don't look good, but at least Scotland didn't trade Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour and Ben Doak for Anthony Ralston. poor Lord Parr.
But the problem is that you can use data to push through old arguments, and the statistics don't tell the whole story. Scotland may have suffered a crushing defeat at Euro 2024, but their performances in the Nations League since then have been average at worst, and if they were a little more forgiving, they'd have great expectations. Steve Clarke's side went toe-to-toe with three nominally better teams in Poland, Portugal and Croatia, playing very well for long periods in each match, only to suffer late sobriety each time. : a clumsy late penalty here, an equalizer judged to the millimeter, an offside there and the evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo's ever-relenting nature on the other.
Yes, Scotland could have used a little more quality, that's true, and at times they were their own worst enemy. But with a little luck, it might work once. Portugal, ranked eighth in the world, may not be the best opponent for a momentum-changing break. But Scotland's barren struggle has to come to an end at some point, and Hampden is where Spain, Portugal's Iberian cousin, last lost a meaningful match, so why not tonight? Anyway, I'm looking forward to this. Kickoff is at 7:45 p.m. It's on!
