Scotland waited 8393 days for a return to tournament football. When the moment arrived, Steve Clarke’s side – missing the hugely influential Kieran Tierney – were taught the harshest of lessons by a Czech Republic team inspired by Patrik Schick’s double. As the Scots yearned for this finals return, perhaps too few people pointed out the brutality of the environment.
The second from Schick, expertly hit over David Marshall from the halfway line, will appear on highlights packages for decades to come. This was a piece of outlandish skill, arriving when Scotland looked like they may haul themselves back into the game. Schick surely has already secured the goal of the tournament with this piece of left-foot sorcery. Not even the stiff breeze could faze him from precisely 49.7m away from the goal.
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