No Scotland, No Party. It’s the anthem that’s rung round the stadiums and the streets wherever the Tartan Army have travelled in Germany. But now the party’s over.
The team’s exit from Euro 2024, confirmed in dramatic fashion by a 100th minute winner from Hungary, was hard for these travelling fans to take. The post mortem was already underway as thousands of them streamed out of the stadium after the final whistle. “Too cautious,” “not set up for winning football” were among the snap judgements.
“We’ve been here before many, many times but we’ll come again,” was another weary take on Scotland’s latest failed attempt to reach the knockout stages of a major tournament. In centre of Stuttgart - the third and ultimately final stop on this German adventure - there was a similar mix of disappointment, anger and a crushing sense of deja vu as fans drifted away from the big screens that had been showing the match. Ewan Brown from Kirkcaldy, only arrived in the city on the eve of the game with his teenage son Jamie.
“We’ve not been here for too long but it’s been good ...
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until that result,” Jamie tells me. “Really disappointing” was his dad’s assessment. “Just not enough attacking threat.
It leaves you feeling like the could have done a bit more.” Rewind a few hours and the hope was that this time would be different. After the disappointment of Munich and a 5-1 defeat by hosts Germany in the opening match, the 1-1 draw with Switzerland .
