Scotland remain without a win but the losing run is over and there was the sight of another victory against Portugal, as Cristiano Ronaldo applauded sarcastically and stormed down the tunnel at the end of this goalless draw at Hampden. Ronaldo’s frustration at being denied by a goalkeeper older than him, in the 41-year-old Craig Gordon, spilled over when Portugal were prevented from taking an injury-time corner, with referee Lawrence Visser blowing his full-time whistle as Bernando Silva and Bruno Fernandes jogged to the byline. As Ronaldo had been in Visser’s ear all night, the Belgian had presumably endured enough and wanted it over.
So there were cheers at last for Steve Clarke and his beleaguered side, even if many came at Ronaldo’s expense, the pantomime villain who thundered off the pitch in a tantrum without shaking hands or applauding the Portugal supporters in the corner. In many ways, that was mission accomplished for the hosts, who held on and avoided losing five consecutive games for the first time. Gordon was immense between the posts, as were Grant Hanley and John Souttar earning their clean sheet with brave displays in central defence. Even debutant Nicky Devlin, a late replacement, played his part with a brilliant block on Rafael Leao. “He got us the point with that block,” Clarke beamed.
The irony for Scotland, however, is they were poor for long spells, worse than they had been in their previous Nations League defeats to Poland, Portugal and Croatia. Clarke’s side were wasteful in possession while looking to play through the middle third and aimless in their attempts to hit long towards an isolated Che Adams. While their resilience and defensive organisation in denying one of the world’s top sides was commendable, especially given the circumstances, there was little evidence of a plan, or idea, to lift the gloom. It ‘s now just one win in 16 for the national team. Relegation from the top tier of the Nations League still beckons.
The reprieve, perhaps, was that Portugal were shockingly bad, in a very different way. Rather than a severe lack of options facing Clarke amid Scotland’s injury crisis, it almost feels as if Roberto Martinez has too many attacking talents to choose from. Martinez, too, refuses to divert from Ronaldo being at the centre of his attack. It turns out that despite Ronaldo scoring in three consecutive international appearances, netting a remarkable 133rd in the win over Poland on Saturday, Portugal have not learned their lesson from the shambles of Euro 2024, where a shot at the trophy was sacrificed by prioritising Ronaldo above all else.
Martinez is culpable and his approach to Portugal’s star player was rather summed up by his reaction to that full-time tantrum. “I wasn’t aware,” Martinez replied, even though his captain had marched past him, huffing and puffing down the tunnel, glowering and pointing to the stands with his thumbs up. In this Portugal side, Ronaldo remains untouchable. He stayed on until the end, even though he did not look like scoring. Neither did Portugal. Later, Bernardo Silva said “something was missing” from their display. “I agree,” Martinez said. “We lacked precision in the final third.”
Ronaldo, unsurprisingly, was at the centre of the action on what was his 200th international appearance. But this was a scrappy contest low on quality, summed up best when Ronaldo and Nuno Mendes messed up a Portugal free kick 30 yards out from goal, taking it to each other short at the same time. The 39-year-old’s theatrical pleading to referee Visser was accompanied by pantomime boos from the Tartan Army, turning to jeers as he miscontrolled a diagonal pass and the ball slipped under his studs, or he missed with an effort on goal, of which there were several.
Ronaldo, too, offered a glimpse at the spectacular with a sudden spring into the air and attempt at an acrobatic bicycle kick, only for it to land wide and the referee to give a free-kick the other way for dangerous play. It was turning into that kind of evening for Portugal, who dominated without taking the lead. Scotland were indebted to their own veteran, Gordon, for saving a Mendes free-kick from the angle bound for the top corner. Ronaldo, meanwhile, kept shooting, firing low at Gordon on his left early on and scooping one over the bar on his right shortly before half time.
It was Scotland, though, who produced the best chance of the first half. Clarke couldn’t have dreamt of a better combination than Andy Robertson’s clipped cross picking out an unmarked Scott McTominay six yards from goal. The major surprise came when McTominay headed straight at Diogo Costa. After that, Scotland retreated, inviting possession either by conceding possession or cheap free-kicks – McTominay gave away a rather rash one and picked up a yellow card for a lunge on his former Manchester United teammate Fernandes.
The Portugal opener seemed inevitable, as Scotland continued to gift possession away. An unmarked Ronaldo headed a golden chance over the bar after Robertson this time lost possession advancing over halfway. Then Ben Doak was caught and Francisco Conceicao curled over from a one-two with Ronaldo. There was an injection of impetus from the visitors through the introduction of Leao, who set up Portugal’s best chance as he squared to Fernandes. Gordon, though, reacted smartly on the line and smothered the rebound to deny Ronaldo.
Scotland did not trouble Costa in the second half but there were chances. McTominay’s touch and drive suddenly had Portugal turning but Ryan Christie was unable to find either Robertson or Doak, both in space to his left. A knock down from Adams fell to McTominay, who couldn’t make contact. Scotland broke clear late on through Anthony Ralston but he couldn’t slide the cross through to McTominay, who burst away with him. In the end, a point was fair, not that Ronaldo would agree.