Steve Clarke insisted Scotland won’t have to wait 23 years for a return to another major tournament after a Luka Modric-inspired Croatia sent them crashing out of Euro 2020.
Hopes of progress to the last-16 of ended in bitter disappointment after the Real Madrid icon ran the midfield in a 3-1 win at Hampden.
Clarke remained defiant by saying the Scots will be back, but his team’s attempt to make history by reaching the knockout stages of a major finals for the first time were thwarted by their classier opponents.
Steve Clarke (centre) consoles forward Lyndon Dykes after Scotland's defeat by Croatia which dumped them out of Euro 2020 in the group stage
They were outplayed for long spells after falling behind to a cheap goal for Nikola Vlasic.
Callum McGregor’s first international goal in his 32nd appearance resurrected hopes before half-time.
Dominant in possession, however, the class of veteran Real Madrid star Modric told in the end.
The 35-year-old scored a superb goal after 62 minutes then laid on the corner from which Ivan Perisic rose to head home Croatia’s third and end Scotland’s first appearance at a tournament finals since France 98.
‘At the moment it’s just disappointment we are out,’ said Clarke, ‘we wanted to stay in as long as we could.
‘Disappointed we haven’t managed to get out of the group stage. You have to give me tonight to get over that, and then a few days.
Luka Modric put in an inspired performance for Croatia as they ended Scotland's challenge
‘We will all sit down and take stock and look at our performances. I will look at my performance and the performance of the players and we will look at what we can do better in the future. And we’ll make sure it’s not 23 years before we go to the next tournament.’
Much of the damage was done by an opening group defeat by the Czech Republic. A 0-0 draw with England at Wembley last Friday was the only highlight of a Group D campaign which saw the Scots ship five goals, score only one and finish with one point from three games.
Missing the ball retention and composure of Billy Gilmour after the Chelsea midfielder tested positive for coronavirus, the Scots resorted to the long balls of the opening defeat to the Czechs and never gained a foothold in midfield.
‘We tried manfully to get a grip of things,’ claimed Clarke.
‘We had a little spell just before we got the goal and just after it where we looked as though we might get something out of the game.
‘I think it’s obviously a compliment to Croatia as well that they put us under a lot of pressure. We couldn’t quite get our passing going as well as we did the last time. We tried to play through them at times and couldn’t quite do it. The times we did do it, we looked a threat.
Scotland were without talisman Billy Gilmour following his positive coronavirus test
‘It’s something
