{"id":494682,"date":"2025-10-12T23:05:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T23:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/494682\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T23:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T23:05:17","slug":"scotland-shred-nerves-as-horrible-watch-stops-tartan-army-hearts-at-hampden-five-talking-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/494682\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland shred nerves as horrible watch stops Tartan Army hearts at Hampden \u2013 five talking points"},"content":{"rendered":"

Che Adams and Scott McTominay on target as Steve Clarke’s side make life difficult against Belarus<\/p>\n

19:17, 12 Oct 2025Updated 20:39, 12 Oct 2025<\/p>\n

Scotland’s Che Adams celebrates with Andy Robertson after scoring to make it 1-0<\/p>\n

After a 27-year wait Scotland are now just 180 minutes away from a World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But if they\u2019re as tense and nerve-shredding as the 90-odd here at Hampden<\/a> – some of the Tartan Army might not see next summer.<\/p>\n

Steve Clarke\u2019s side finally saw off Group C minnows Belarus thanks to goals from Che Adams<\/a> and Scott McTominay.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t tell half the story of an anxious encounter which had the home crowd shattered by full-time.<\/p>\n

The victory kept the Scots unbeaten in qualification and on track for a first World Cup appearance since 1998.<\/p>\n

With two games to go – a double-header against Greece and Denmark next month – they\u2019re in charge of their own destiny.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019ll have to play a whole lot better than this to get there.<\/p>\n

After a ropey start, Adams settled things down when drilled home a Jack Hendry pass.<\/p>\n

But they failed to build on it and had to rely on VAR to rule out a Belarus equaliser as fans were put through the wringer.<\/p>\n

Eventually, McTominay grabbed a second with six minutes left. But even then, there was work to do.<\/p>\n

The visitors made it 2-1 in stoppage time through sub Hleb Kuchkoto who set up a nail-biting finale.<\/p>\n

But Scotland<\/a> hung on, despite some jeers from supporters at the end. Here are Record Sport\u2019s<\/strong> 5 talking points:<\/p>\n

Job done<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t pretty by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it was horrible at times to watch.<\/p>\n

But ultimately, Clarke won\u2019t care because it\u2019s another three points in the bag and one step closer to the promised land of a World Cup.<\/p>\n

In his landmark game as Scotland gaffer, he couldn\u2019t afford any slip-ups in Group C after getting off to such a positive start.<\/p>\n

This game and victory won\u2019t live long in the memory.<\/p>\n

But that won\u2019t matter if the Tartan Army is in the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the end goal and Clarke\u2019s boys are now just two games away from achieving it.<\/p>\n

This win – as hard fought as it was – gives them a golden opportunity going into the final qualifying double-header in November against Greece in Athens and Denmark at Hampden.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll have to play better than they did here to get the job done.<\/p>\n

But for now, the dream lives on. It\u2019s in the players\u2019 hands and they have to go and grasp it next month.<\/p>\n

Sure-fire Che<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a constant debate around the national team about who Clarke\u2019s first-choice striker should be.<\/p>\n

Plenty of punters want to see Lyndon Dykes start up top, while others fancy the likes of Lawrence Shankland – who didn\u2019t even make the squad – or young Kieron Bowie.<\/p>\n

But Che Adams doesn\u2019t get the credit he deserves in a dark blue shirt and he proved his worth again here.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy playing that lone front-man role for Scotland.<\/p>\n

Scotland’s Che Adams celebrates scoring to make it 1-0<\/p>\n

But the Torino star runs himself into the ground for his adopted country and there\u2019s a reason why Clarke keeps picking him.<\/p>\n

When he gets decent service, he\u2019s a terrific finisher.<\/p>\n

After a ropey start against Belarus, we badly needed a goal to calm the nerves and our number 10 delivered it.<\/p>\n

He produced an excellent all-round centre-forward display here.<\/p>\n

His touch and shot to put the Scots 1-0 up were out of the top drawer – and vital to securing the victory.<\/p>\n

VAR drama<\/p>\n

This was a strange type of game anyway but even more so by the fact it was punctuated by VAR checks and delays – with Scotland benefiting a few times from the pitch side monitor.<\/p>\n

Adams\u2019 opening goal was initially ruled out for offside but after a check in the VAR hub, Romanian officials correctly told ref Marian Barbu to give it.<\/p>\n

That got Clarke\u2019s side off to a flier.<\/p>\n

In the second half, they were hoping video footage would get them a spot kick when big defender Yegor Parkhomenko appeared to handle the ball in the box while tussling with Adams.<\/p>\n

Scotland’s Che Adams puts the ball in the net but after a VAR review it is disallowed for handball<\/p>\n

But after a ridiculously lengthy stoppage, the whistler checked the screens and awarded a free-kick AGAINST Clarke\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

A few moments later, Hampden was silent when Belarus thought they\u2019d grabbed an equaliser through Evgeni Malashevich.<\/p>\n

But thankfully for the Scots, VAR was on our side again.<\/p>\n

After yet another look at the monitor, it was ruled that Scott McTominay had been fouled in the build-up so the goal was chalked off – and the Tartan Army could breathe again.<\/p>\n

Believe in Ben<\/p>\n

Scotland youngster Ben Gannon-Doak might not have been at his best against Greece and Belarus in terms of goals or assists.<\/p>\n

In midweek when he was subbed off by Clarke he was disappointed with himself and shook his head as he trudged back to the dug-out.<\/p>\n

Here, he was much better and had big defender Pavel Zabelin on toast at times in the first half.<\/p>\n

The end product wasn\u2019t quite there with Gannon-Doak as he skewed a couple of crosses or made the wrong decision with his pass.<\/p>\n

But Scotland and Clarke have to keep believing in this kid.<\/p>\n

Ben Gannon-Doak in action<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still only 19 and has time on his side.<\/p>\n

More importantly, Gannon-Doak gives us something we haven\u2019t had in years – searing pace and an ability to go past players.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the finished article but he never hides.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s going to have a huge part to play in Scotland\u2019s future – hopefully starting at the World Cup next summer.<\/p>\n

Hampden heart-stoppers<\/p>\n

It really shouldn\u2019t be this nerve-wracking to secure a win over Belarus.<\/p>\n

We all know the stakes are high in trying to reach a World Cup – and a victory was all that really mattered here.<\/p>\n

But the Tartan Army had their hearts in their mouths far too often against the Group C minnows.<\/p>\n

Remember, Denmark and Greece have taken six goals each already off this team.<\/p>\n

Scotland Head Coach Steve Clarke takes charge of his 72nd match<\/p>\n

And when Scotland beat them in Hungary last month with no fans in the ground, it was far more comfortable than this.<\/p>\n

As much as Clarke\u2019s side got the win they needed, the players must become more clinical and ruthless against teams like Belarus.<\/p>\n

The visitors should never have been in the game, especially after Adams\u2019 early opener.<\/p>\n

But towards the end, it was nail-biting stuff<\/p>\n

After starting the game really well, they had an equaliser ruled out by VAR in the second half.<\/p>\n

It made the crowd super-anxious before McTominay\u2019s clincher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Che Adams and Scott McTominay on target as Steve Clarke’s side make life difficult against Belarus 19:17, 12…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,130639,1102,4884,38261,712,13315,70572,13314,70571,16,15,93214,45880],"class_list":{"0":"post-494682","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-che-adams","10":"tag-edinburgh","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-hampden-park","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-scotland-football-team","15":"tag-scotland-u19s-football-team","16":"tag-scott-mctominay","17":"tag-steve-clarke","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-world-cup-2026","21":"tag-world-cup-qualifiers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115363704537642460","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}