Not the ideal start to their qualification campaign
Scotland’s qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 got off to the worst possible start on Thursday afternoon, as Alex McLeish’s side suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of Kazakhstan.
The result came as a surprise to pretty much everyone except maybe Scotland fans, who have grown accustomed to this sort of disappointment in recent years.
Scotland are missing some key players, but nonetheless, losing by a three goal margin to Kazakhstan, who are ranked 117th in the world, 77 places below the Scots, is cause for huge concern.
The first goal came after just five minutes when Yuri Pertsukh took advantage of some sloppy marking to latch onto a long ball, take it down with a deft touch, and lash it into the top corner.
What. A. Goal 😲
Scotland are behind after just 5 minutes in Kazakhstan!
📺 Watch the #Euro2020 qualifier now on Sky Sports Football or follow here: https://t.co/cOHfFRZHxS pic.twitter.com/jd1R2zMXRB
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 21, 2019
Kazakhstan then doubled their lead before ten minutes had passed, as Yan Vorogovsky got on the end of a defence-splitting pass, poking the ball past Scott Bain.
B̶a̶r̶c̶e̶l̶o̶n̶a̶ Kazakhstan are 2-0 up!
Vorogovskiy is on the end of a stunning assist and Scotland are in all sorts of trouble.
📺 Watch the #Euro2020 qualifier now on Sky Sports Football or follow here: https://t.co/cOHfFRZHxS pic.twitter.com/PSphjcNdxF
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 21, 2019
The home side then put the cherry on the icing on the cake with a powerful, well-directed header back across Bain’s goal from a looping cross, completing Scotland’s humiliation.
Game Over! ❌
Kazakhstan score a third – and it is another superb goal for the hosts.
📺 Watch the #Euro2020 qualifier now on Sky Sports Football or follow here: https://t.co/cOHfFRZHxS pic.twitter.com/3g2OdJWLZd
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 21, 2019
This is a far from ideal start for Scotland, who still have to play Belgium and Russia in their qualifying group.
It’s early days, but they have left themselves a mountain to climb if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the European Championships for the first time since 1996.
