Steve Clarke hailed the resilience of his Scotland players after they finally got their Nations League campaign up and running with a hard-fought point against Portugal.
Facing a cast of superstars including Cristiano Ronaldo on his first appearance at Hampden, Clarke’s side avoided a record fifth straight defeat as they battled their way to a clean sheet
The Scots kept Ronaldo fairly quiet, with the Portugal captain storming up the tunnel at full-time after a night of frustration in Glasgow. He had been confronted by a pitch invader earlier in the match, with Portugal boss Roberto Martinez distinctly unimpressed by Hampden security.
‘The point was important for us,’ said Clarke, whose team stopped the rot following three previous defeats in the campaign.
The draw extended Scotland’s run of form to just one win in their past 16 games, while they are without a win in their last 10 competitive matches, but Clarke insisted: ‘To get off the mark is nice, our Nations League is off and running.
Ronaldo makes his annoyance clear as Scotland defender John Souttar looks on
Ronald could not hide frustration as he failed to score on first Hampden appearance
Steve Clarke watches Ronaldo storm off at end of disappointing night for Portugal captain
‘I’m pleased. Defensively we were sound. The shape of the team was good, we defended well and made some good blocks.
‘We needed some big saves at times and Craig Gordon made them. In the end, it was a good point for us.
‘Confidence was fine [despite the poor run of results]. They know they can play well. Maybe with the ball tonight, we didn’t play quite as well as we normally do.
Craig Gordon makes a brilliant save from Ronaldo during the goalless draw
Nicky Devlin also came to the Scots' rescue with this block from Leao
Scotland boss Clarke congratulates Gordon for standing firm
‘That was maybe partly down to fatigue as I asked a few of the boys to do a double shift across both games.
‘But we were playing against one of the top sides in Europe. We’ll go into the games in November in a more confident mood, looking to get more points.
‘The resilience has always been there. The fans have always been with us. I don’t doubt the supporters.
‘The players dug in and ground out a really good point for us. In a game like that where the opposition have so much possession, you expect they will eventually create a chance.
‘But Craig made a big save for us. We spoke before the game about doing the hard stuff and the ugly stuff. We worked hard for it.
‘Craig is performing at a very high level. We are delighted to have him back in the squad.’
Clarke was also fulsome in his praise for Nicky Devlin, the Aberdeen defender who came off the bench to make his Scotland debut.
Devlin made a terrific block late in the match to deny Portugal winger Rafa Leao what would have been the winning goal.
Try as he might, Ronaldo just could not score against Scotland
The Portugal skipper made his feelings clear on a night when his team wasted chances
‘It was fantastic,’ said Clarke. ‘First cap for Nicky. A moment to remember. Basically, he got us a point with that block. He was brave. I had no doubt about putting Nicky into the game.’
On the performance of Ben Doak, Clarke added: ‘Ben was good. It was a decision I was weighing up in my mind, maybe to keep Ben on the bench and use him more towards the end. But he played from the start and he was good.’
Keeper Gordon said: ’It had to be a great defensive display as there’s so much quality, so many goal threats in that Portugal team. It was a great performance by everyone to keep a clean sheet and get a point which was very important for us.
‘We carved out a few chances and if we could have taken one of them we might have had all three points, but we have to be satisfied with a clean sheet. We got our campaign up and running and we now look forward to the games next month and see if we can get a couple of wins in this group.’
Defender John Souttar said: ‘It’s our first point of the campaign and I think we deserved it. Over the course of the campaign we’ve been pretty unlucky not to pick up a point
‘It’s a credit to the whole team and Craig in goal who pulled off a great save near the end.
‘The boys are always striving for more. We had chances. When we look back on the game, we’ll be pleased.
On playing in the same Scotland team as childhood pal Ryan Gauld, Souttar added: ‘We grew up together, our parents are friends and we have played together since we were tiny. We went to the same school and we’re now together in the national team, it’s an amazing moment.’