Scotland bask in glory after showing true grit

Steve Clarke now hasa claim tobeing the country’s finest manager after his team made history in spectacular style

- Ewan Murray

It was not a time for calm reflection. Kenny McLean had just lobbed Kasper Schmeichel from the halfway line. Limbs. Unbridled, unfiltered joy.

On one outrageous Hampden Park night McLean, Kieran Tierney and Scott McTominay relegated Archie Gemmill's stupendous solo effort against the Netherlands in 1978 to merely the fourth best Scotland goal of all time. Zinedine Zidane's volley for Real Madrid in Hampden's Champions League final of 2002? A mere tap-in by comparison.

What was produced by McTominay, Tierney and McLean will live long in the memories of the children and grandchildren of anybody who was in attendance on Tuesday night. They call McLean "the Mayor of Norwich". He may as well now be the mayor of Nairn, North Berwick and Newtongrange.

Some argue international football has lost relevance amid club obsessions and the attached corporate boom. Scotland have proved precisely the opposite. The strength of feeling linked to their achievement has been so incredibly striking. Scotland cares deeply and passionately about its football team. The country is proud to be afforded the status a World Cup will bring. The 2026 version will be enriched by Scottish involvement; certainly off the field if not on it.

That Scotland scored four goals against Denmark, let alone three of such remarkable quality, was so brilliantly baffling that it summed up their qualifying campaign. Having endured a wait since 1998 to return to international football's top table, the Scots determined simplicity was overrated. Steve Clarke has no cause to care about how it was done. He is now the country's finest manager, courtesy of three tournament places in four attempts. Only a playoff has denied Clarke a clean sweep.