SCOTLAND 2 FINLAND 2: Clarke's men let it slip in big Hampden send-off as Euros fall guy Gordon concedes twice

AFTER 75 caps, Craig Gordon deserved a more fitting send-off from international football than this.

One of the two players axed from Steve Clarke’s provisional squad for Germany, the Hearts legend will end his Scotland career without making an appearance at a major finals.

His chance came and passed when news broke of Clarke dropping one of his four goalkeepers to trim the squad down to the maximum of 26 permitted by UEFA.

There was always a tricky judgment to be made. If Angus Gunn picks up an injury, Gordon is the best deputy. The trouble is that he hasn’t played much for Hearts. Kept out of the Tynecastle team by Zander Clark, he’s 41 now and managed just seven games after returning to fitness after a double leg break.

There was a rousing ovation from the Tartan Army when he hugged Gunn and replaced the first-choice keeper for the last 20 minutes.

Football can be a brutal and unsentimental business, sometimes, and there was no fairytale ending. Gordon’s first act was to pick the ball out of the net. His second was to gift Finland a fortunate 85th minute penalty which robbed the Scots — and the veteran keeper — of the send-off they craved in their final warm-up game.

With seven central defenders in the 28, the exclusion of John Souttar of Rangers was less surprising. It’s a harsh fact of life that, after some sympathy and back slapping, no one will give much thought to the players left behind. It’s all about those boarding a flight to Germany tomorrow.

Right now, though, it’s hard to know how they’ll fare against a German side which secured a last minute win over Greece.

Steve Clarke claims to take no notice of the ‘Negative Normans’ but they were out in force after a first half when Scotland barely mustered an attack to speak of.

For all the talk of injuries, the composition of the 11 players who propelled the national team to Euro 2024 hasn’t changed much. The absence of the first choice right-backs is unfortunate, offering Anthony Ralston a chance he barely gets with Celtic, never mind a Scotland team heading for a major international finals.

Despite Shankland grabbing the goal he so badly needed before the hour, Che Adams is still the best option. A Rolls Royce of a player, Scott McTominay is a racing certainty to start in the Allianz Arena provided he proves his fitness after injury.

Beyond that, the scope for Scotland to recapture the form which stunned Spain and knocked out Norway is limited.

Clarke was attempting to move level with the late, great Jock Stein on 26 wins in Scotland’s ninth meeting with Finland, the last of which was a 1-1 draw at Easter Road in 1998. Despite winning six of their previous meetings, the home side lacked the cut and thrust in a first half which gave further sustenance to the feeling that Scotland don’t do friendlies very well.

Most of the big names were in from the start. Despite some neat passing and a possession stat of 67 per cent, they struggled to make any impact in the final third or muster a moment of menace.

Beaten in the Euro play-offs by Wales, the Finns had Teemu Pukki up front and what Clarke would give for a player of his predatory quality now. A pretty middling player at Celtic, the wily striker threatened to pierce Scotland’s bubble after 10 minutes, Gunn holding a flicked header.

Handed another chance for some much-needed game time, Grant Hanley’s lack of sharpness showed when a defensive misjudgment almost let Pukki in again, Gunn racing from his line to make things difficult.

This wasn’t the party the Tartan Army had come to see. Shankland’s desperation — and frustration — was evident when he stabbed a shot from the edge of the area a yard or so over the crossbar.

The Scots had yet to manage a shot on target when the visitors found themselves three on two in a promising breakaway, Casper Terho cutting inside to test forced Gunn to save a low strike, deflected off the instep of Kieran Tierney. Only one keeper had been tested in the first half and it wasn’t Jesese Joronen. Scotland had offered nothing in the final third.

Things improved after the interval. They really had to.

A shot on goal was a start, Billy Gilmour finally testing Joronen when he gathered the ball on his chest and fired in a half volley. This was another one of those nights when the ball seemed magnetically attached to the Brighton man’s feet. He really was terrific.

Andy Robertson became Scotland’s longest serving captain in his 49th game as skipper and marked the occasion with assists for two goals in four minutes.

Forget the nonsense of the Hampden announcer. When the Liverpool left back gathered a fine pass from Tierney and fired the ball low across goal, it came off the hapless Arttu Hoskonen. The desperation for Scotland goalscorer was such they were even pinching own goals off Finland.

There was no dubiety over the identity of the second goalscorer four minutes later. Robertson’s swirling cross from the left side picked out Shankland and when the Hearts captain buried his back post header the prevailing emotion was relief. It wasn’t just him who needed the goal. Scotland had to see that he had the belief to do it at this level.

At 2-0 Scotland should have secured the send-off Clarke craved. A raft of substitutes drained them of momentum.

Greg Taylor and debutant Tommy Conway took to the pitch before Ryan Jack and Gordon followed.

The veteran keeper’s first act was to pick the ball out of the net when a cross from Oliver Antman was steered into the net by the head of Benjamin Kallman. Despite a lengthy VAR check the goal was onside. Just.

Handed the captain’s armband, Gordon was on course to end his international tenure with a win until disaster struck with five minutes to play.

Advancing from his line to meet a dangerous cross into the six yard box, the Hearts keeper punched the ball before cleaning out Tomas Galvez with his fists. Polish referee Lukasz Kuzma pointed to the spot and VAR showed no inclination to give Gordon — or Scotland — the send off either side craved. Antman took the penalty and sent Gordon the wrong way.