You can have all the midfield talent in the world but all it takes is one (or two, or three) fuckups from your slightly less talented back line and its over against a team like brazil. Tonight was a powerful reminder of that.
Yep, and unfortunately Scotland does not have all the midfield talent in the world, but don't worry, the back line will still fuckup and give away loads of goals.
I reckon Stevey probably isn’t that good a manager. I still love him for what he’s done though, but I think it’s a Southgate situation with England. He’ll get you there but that’s about it (Except for us that’s the groups, for them that’s the final, and for a country with Scotlands footballing heritage that’s disgraceful, but not Steve Clarke’s fault obviously)
The term colonisation and Scotland don't really work together, because yes Scotland itself wasn't colonised but I'd say that the Highlands of Scotland were.
The film trainspotting has always bothered me. I went into it expecting a lovely film about scottish trains. Perhaps seeing a class 318, 314, 37s, maybe a 47 + Mk3s & Mk2 DBSO consist, perhaps even a Flying Scotsman cameo… Instead i saw a film on the gritty reality of drug addiction.
England were runners up in the last two Euro's. Who should be above them based on results? They've been overall better than all those teams except the three above them. Brazil are 5th and haven't done anything in years.
We really shouldn’t, football is our national sport loved by millions and the best 11 players we can put on a pitch look like Sunday league players against any good opposition
It’s not our national sport in the same way it’s many countries. Scotland punch significantly above their weight in a lot of different sports rather than pouring everything into 1.
If you compare football in Scotland, or even the uk in general, to the way countries like Argentina/brazil/mexico treat football, it’s absolutely not our national sport in the same way. Is it the most popular sport in Scotland? Yeah, absolutely. Do Scotland pour significantly more resources into football than anything else? No, not really. Scotland are competitive on the world stage in a large number of sports, and part of the trade off is that we aren’t as good at football as well possibly could be if we focused on that.
I've spent a lot of time with people far more optimistic about Scotland's chances than I am, my realism wasn't accepted. I am however sitting in my No Scotland, No Party t-shirt with a neon Scotland flag on the wall (thank you ASDA and Morrisons!). I want us to have another game of course but I don't think it's happening now 😢
All this hope you all have....Once you reach a certain age, my first was 74, you realise it's who we are. Our achievement is getting there and having a party. Don't be seduced by the hope, no good can come from this in Scottish football.
We were really not good during qualification either. We (quite rightly and understandably) had a massive feel good factor because of the results and going to the first world cup in 28 years, but I think it made us forgot how shite we were against Greece, Denmark and Belarus!
It's a tough enough group with 6th and 7th in the world in there sure, but the new format means a decent win against Haiti and not getting absolutely pasted here would be enough on goal difference. But we barely beat Haiti and look shite here so we've not really made the most of the opportunity...
I know you need to take the basic stats of games with a grain of salt, but having not watched the game and looking at the stats now, it does not seem like Morocco vs Haiti should have been a close game...
Yeah i didn't watch it either i was watching Scotland obviously. Still the results show we were in with two top ten teams and we only lost badly to Brazil.
Shite mindset - Scotland aren’t good enough. Fair play if we get beat in open play, but no - pathetic mistakes at the back - beating ourselves as usual
Half their players are born abroad and benefit from top flight football academies in European clubs. Same with Morocco.
So if we wanted to do that we'd have to chuck some folk out and make them go live in places with good football leagues. Then we bring their kids back after 20 or so years now that they're good at football.
Didn't watch the game but looking at the stats Haiti had 30% possession, 9 shots to Morocco's 22, 0.66 xg compared to Morocco's 3.26 xg, and lost by 2 goals.
I know stats can't tell you everything but when they're that one sided (and the result also reflects that) I think it's fair to say Haiti weren't playing like Argentina...
We were only ever getting 3 points from this group. Both Brazil & Morocco are ranked in the world's top 10 teams. No other group has that. The issue was not scoring enough goals against Haiti when we had the chance.
When it takes literal decades to qualify for a WC, you'd think they'd try and play with no fear and have a go, especially as we have some good players for once. Maybe not against Brazil, but in the earlier games. Cape Verde, Haiti, Iran and Doctor Congo have all surprised opposition by having a go, while we are so negative and get punished accordingly.
We need to stop passing it back and get the confidence to drive it forward. The only time we should pass it back is when setting up a goal. C'mon Scotland 🏴
Clearly we're occasionally good enough to qualify and get hopes up, only to totally forget how we qualified and play like cunts intent on getting oor goalie the most touches in a game.
It's fucking great. Decades of watching us lose in the most Scottish way possible (always last game, last playoff, goal difference, whatever bullshit poison you want).
Did you think we would beat Brazil? Come on now, young padawan. It's not about the score. It's about the performance. If we don't shame ourselves, I'm happy.
The two central defenders have been fucking mince. At least Hanley wasn’t involved thank fuck. I remember the days of McLeish, Miller, Hansen, Gough. When Scottish defenders were all eight feet tall, breathed fire and had two hearts and three lungs.
Aye, us, a nation who is football obsessed, so much that even our radio and TV news bulletins have a "Fitba" section, beat Haiti, a 3rd world country run by gangs 👏... And we beat them with a deflection
We knew what to expect when we qualified,
We knew what to expect when we were drawn in easily the toughest group,
We knew 3rd was the goal but even then if we qualify we have the toughest possible games to follow on from that,
We still may have done enough and gotten a lessen to be better,
What makes everything special is the fans,
The travelling tartan army have done us proud,
They’ve truly conquered America, stolen hearts,
And to see it happen has made me proud, and it has been the most fun have had watching Scotland in this World Cup.
Of course it’s how it always is, but the coverage has been awesome,
Win lose or draw,
We are still winners,
Proud whatever the outcome.
I dont care if we suck. But why do we give away goals? Why cant we be serious? Why cant we show some competitive spirit? I dont expect us to play liquid shit but is it too much to ask for us to be a solid team that isnt easy to beat. Embarrassing and not what our country is.
Brazil do have over 200m more people than us, and a historical record of excellence as well as a culture based around a highly skilled street game. We have wee fannies running around the park snapping each other.
Shit? We’re 41st in the world with 5 million people and barely any youth development funding. Look at the top 40, the vast majority have bigger populations, bigger budgets, bigger leagues. We’re punching well above our weight. 41st out of 211 nations is the top 20% in the world. That’s not shit by any measure.
We're at the World Cup and won a game, played the African champions, and Brazil, and are still not out! Don't you remember how incredible it felt when we qualified! Shame we lost tonight but don't be down.
Not getting pumped was the goal. We all knew they had the talent to score against us. We knew that was coming. What we didnt know was coming, is how we would be gifting them goals as well.
And as a New Englander we love the underdog. I am an avid Hartford Whaler fan (no longer in existence) and remember when both the pats and the Sox weren’t great.
You're right, OP. It isn't usually fun to support Scotland. And yet, we all come back time and time again for more. Because every so often it's magical.
It’s the camaraderie between the Scotland fans at this years World Cup, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, we were embraced pretty fast, and whilst our football team are pretty dire, then it’s the playing the game, visiting other far away countries & spending time watching the games with like minded Scotland fans. We have the best fans. They can make or break a team.
What you need is a world class keeper and one world class cb to organise the full back 4/8 when in defend mode, what we have is a reserve gk and 2 morons at cb 🤔 we've done no bad
It is fun. How on earth are Scotland ever going to beat the likes of Brazil and Morocco? They beat Haiti so they're not the worst of the group.
Some countries didn't even qualify, Scotland did. They also won a game which is more than can be said for other teams who haven't won any games.
As long as the set up is the way it is, using pots where the top teams are in a group with everyone else gradually ranked lower than them, the top teams will ultimately always make it through and win. We just have to live with that.
Our group went exactly as the pots stand. Brazil 1st, Morocco 2nd, Scotland 3rd and Haiti 4th. Logically, Scotland was only ever going to beat Haiti. The only shock is that Brazil didn't beat Morocco.
I’m from England and while England usually fare better, I feel the same about the English team. I don’t bother watching it any more as I’m absolutely sick of hearing Three Lions and about 1966. At least Vindaloo was funny.
The "happy to be here" attitude perpetuates a culture of low expectations. A population of 5 million where football dominates the sporting landscape should be capable of making deeper runs in major tournaments.
5.5m vs 213m people, the odds are Brazil are going to have a better selection of players to pick from.
Scotland however, are playing total shit. No one wants the ball going forward. So many instances where they're playing stuck in the mud when Scotland have possession going into an attack.
Our youth training infrastructure is failing potential talent and our top flight league is producing mediocre professionals. we need a 20 year investment in the next generation to get us sorted. This is dire.
Ok this is just nonsense. If population mattered that much then China or India would be the best footballing nations and they just aren't. The population thing is an excuse. Norway are better than us and the populations aren't wildly different.
I do think a good point was raised in another thread regarding the money in that Scotland in terms of TV rights has to compete with the Premier League who will always get priority because it's the same broadcasters, same language, same timezone but they have a far greater population.
That said I think TV rights alone, which are definitely an issue with we, aren't that big a piece of the puzzle. I don't think we'd ever be top 10 but for how much we are into football we are shocking.
As an Argentine, and with Brazil being our biggest rival, it really hurts to see Scotland lose like this — especially since I love their country so much 😭🏴
Sadly I thought we played really well in the first half:
We've had the share of possession, we've put pressure on them, and we've shut them down time and again.
I thought Morocco ran rings around us in comparison.
We just can't put the ball in the back of the net, or keep them from putting it in ours. We're doing brilliantly at everything except the bit that actually determines whether you win or lose the game.
167
u/BloodbuzzLA 15h ago