Steve Clarke hails quality of Scotland’s goals which helped seal World Cup berth

Adam Clery Football Column. A newsletter that unpacks the absurdities and oddities of the beautiful gameThe ACFC newsletter: unpacking football’s absurditiesUnpack football’s oddities with the ACFC newsletterSteve Clarke was stunned by the quality of Scotland’s goals as they sealed their place at next summer’s World Cup with a dramatic 4-2 win over Denmark.Scott McTominay scored a sensational overhead kick early on, while substitute Kieran Tierney curled in a brilliant finish from outside the box to edge the Scots 3-2 in front in stoppage time.Kenny McLean then sealed a famous Scottish triumph when he lobbed Kasper Schmeichel from the halfway line with the last kick of the game.“Scott McTominay scored the best overhead kick I’ve ever seen and it might not have been the best goal of the night!” Clarke spoke to BBC Scotland.“It was a lot of emotions. High and low. At times, you’re looking for solutions and thinking how to change it. I knew at some stage we’d have to go two up front.“I felt the Danes were dominating us a little. It seemed like a good time [to make the changes]. Whether they were 10 or 11 [men], we were going to do that.“I spoke to Kieran before the first game. He’s a key player for me, one of my men. I’ve got loads of them. Fourteen were involved in the play-off game.open image in galleryKieran Tierney’s brilliant finish put Scotland ahead in stoppage time (Andrew Milligan/PA)“I said ‘listen, Aaron Hickey can’t do back-to-back games, I can see you coming on at right-back and doing very well for us’.“I’m not sure I envisioned the goal… but when it was rolling back to him on his left foot, I knew he would score.“When Kenny hit it, I thought ‘what are you doing?!’ but when I saw it in flight, I thought ‘that’s going to go in!’”PA
2025-11-18 23:30:33