The 22-year wait is over
For the first time in over two decades, Scotland will return to major tournament football, after a dramatic penalty shootout win over Serbia in Belgrade.
After taking the lead thanks to Ryan Christie’s opener early in the second half, Steve Clarke’s side conceded a Luka Jovic equaliser at the death to force the game to extra-time. No more goals followed, leaving Scotland’s fate to be decided by penalties.
The first nine penalties were all converted, meaning Aleksandar Mitrović had to score to keep Serbia in the contest. However, the Fulham striker’s spot kick was beaten away by David Marshall, enough to seal a famous win for the Scots.
But as his jubilant teammates charged towards him from halfway, the goalkeeper initially refused to commit to the celebrations until he received confirmation from the match referee that his save hadn’t violated rules about prematurely leaving his goal line.
"A night for the players, a night for the fans, a night for all of Scotland!" 🏴
What a moment for Scotland and what a moment for David Marshall! 🙌
After 22 long years, the Tartan Army can look forward to an international tournament once more! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/sjdOdFV7pM
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) November 12, 2020
Perhaps the above video doesn’t quite do it justice, but this one, which features a close up of those precious couple of seconds or so between the save being made and the refereeing confirming his save was legitimate, is brilliant.
This reaction is priceless 😂
Despite saving the Serbian’s 5th and final penalty, David Marshall looks to the referee to confirm before celebrating 😅
Who doesn’t love football?
pic.twitter.com/N6dvFSXyv5— Remontada (@The_Remontada) November 12, 2020
