Scotland manager Steve Clarke stormed out of his BBC interview after being quizzed on the anxious wait to see if his side will clinch one of the eight best third-placed spots, much to the annoyance of the Scottish fanbase.
Clarke’s side were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Brazil on Wednesday, with Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior setting the five-time World Cup champions on their way to victory with a first-half brace before Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha sealed the three points in the 60th minute.
Sloppy play from Scotland building out from the back led to Brazil’s opener, while their second came after the Scots failed to clear their lines.
Only a VAR intervention for a soft foul in the build-up prevented Vinicius Junior from claiming a first-half hat-trick – much to the infuriation of boss Carlo Ancelotti – while Brazil could easily have scored five on the night.
Scotland are now facing an anxious wait until potentially Sunday to discover whether they will finish among the eight best third-placed sides as they look to reach the last 32, having beaten only Haiti on matchday one.
Clarke struggled to contain his emotions at the final whistle, with the question of how he plans to cope with the upcoming wait appearing to push him over the edge.
Speaking on the pitch after the match, he said: ‘We made it difficult for ourselves. That’s it. We gave them the goals. We gave them the game they wanted. Disappointing.’
Clarke struggled to contain his emotions at the final whistle, with the question of how he plans to cope with the upcoming wait appearing to push him over the edge
When asked for his thoughts on the agonising wait ahead, Clarke abruptly replied: ‘I don't even think about that,’ before walking away as the cameras were forced to cut back to Kelly Cates in the BBC’s Salford studio.
Clarke’s reaction appears to have grated on Scottish fans, who were quick to suggest that it was the 62-year-old’s shortcomings that led to the side’s capitulation against Brazil.
One fan wrote: ‘Better managers than Steve Clarke have done these interviews with good grace, win or lose.
‘When is the Scottish football media going to call out this guy, with his incomprehensible tactics, lack of preparation (clearly) and deplorable attitude towards his media duties?’
Another wrote: ‘Thats poor from Steve Clarke to dig his players like that infront of the media and strut off (sic).
‘Ultimately if you don't score in 2 games in a world cup you don't deserve to go through. Inexplicably they could but would you even back Scotland vs Mexico’.
A third wrote: ‘Steve Clarke fails to grasp that in an interview, he isn't speaking to the media, he's speaking to the supporters.
‘You are the manager. People want to hear what you have to say. Throwing a temper tantrum, walking out, offering no reflection, is just a f*** you to supporters.’
After witch doctors putting curses on Harry Kane and a psychic claiming aliens were targeting the Scotland game in Miami, another X user also claimed his own mystical insight.
‘I might be naive but I have a gut feeling that he (Clarke) might resign. Based off absolutely nothing but a funny feeling,’ the person wrote on X.
‘I look forward to laughing at this when we are knocked out of the 2030 World Cup by Sri Lanka.’
Sloppy play from Scotland building out from the back led to Brazil’s opener, while their second came after the Scots failed to clear their lines
Nicole Shankland, wife of Lawrence Shankland, took her seat in the stadium ahead of kick off
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Bosnia-Herzegovina | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 4 |
| 2. Sweden | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| 3. Croatia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 3 |
| 4. South Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 3 |
| 5. Algeria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 3 |
| 6. Paraguay | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 3 |
| 7. Scotland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 3 |
| 8. Cape Verde | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9. Belgium | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10. Congo DR | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 1 |
| 11. Ecuador | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
| 12. Senegal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 0 |
Scotland’s failure to take even a point against Brazil – which would have significantly improved their outlook – leaves them on the brink of elimination. They currently sit seventh in the third-place rankings, while there are plenty of teams below them who are yet to play their final group game.
Clarke – who signed a new deal with the national team until 2030 earlier this year – later returned to deliver a full post-match interview, again striking a pessimistic tone.
‘It was unbelievable the shift the players put in; the ones who played 90 minutes in that heat and humidity were outstanding, but we have to be better if we want to compete at this level,’ he said.
‘In the first four or five minutes we passed the ball well and then made a mistake. You cannot do that at this level because it puts you on the back foot and it becomes a long night.
‘For sure I think we're going home.’
The Scotland stars’ wives and girlfriends were among those looking forlorn in the stands as they watched their partners slip to a disappointing defeat in Miami.
Among the Tartan Army in attendance was Lawrence Shankland’s wife, Nicole, who took her seat inside Miami Stadium. She was pictured holding their daughter, who had donned a Scotland shirt with ‘Daddy’ on the back for the occasion.
Meanwhile, George Hirst’s girlfriend, Aela Brown, took to Instagram to show her support before the match, while Jack Hendry’s wife, Robyn, was also in the stands with their child.
David Beckham was also spotted among the crowd, sipping a glass of red wine as the game got under way.
Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn's wife Jade was looking considerably chipper before kick-off
George Hirst's girlfriend Aela Brown took to Instagram to show off her outfit for the match
David Beckham was spotted sipping a glass of red wine in the crowd
As for Clarke, talkSPORT’s Scottish presenter Shebahn Aherne delivered perhaps the most scathing critique of his media handling, having seen him storm out of a previous interview just days earlier.
'It's not good enough. Who do you think you are, Pep? Because you're not,' she said.
'We've not been at a World Cup since 1998 and it's incredible that we're there and that's down to Steve Clarke, so I get that he's done his bit, but last week it happened after Morocco to somebody I've known for a long time.
'He came off and stormed off. And for somebody like that who's got a job to do and he (Clarke) has got a job to do. And then six days later he does the same thing again. Not 'I don't understand why you don't have to do this (post-match interviews)'. Well, you do have to do this, so front into it.'
She continued: 'A lot of people have spent a lot of money being here, following this team, representing Scotland the best they can all over the world - everyone's loving them - and you're our guy. You're our gaffer, and you come out and you can't even just suit up for a moment and front into it. That really bothers me because we're in this industry and we haven't been able to speak to Steve Clarke once on this trip.
'I thought we would've have had that opportunity - win, lose or draw - because we're all here to do a job. I get he's done his bit in getting us here but at the end of the day, when that full time whistle goes, you've just got to get on with it, so I'm really disappointed at that because I love him. He's given us this opportunity to be here, to get to the Euros. But just don't speak to people like that, don't behave like that, just grow up.'
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