After the party comes the hangover: Scotland failed to deliver yet again

Between them, the players who featured for Scotland against Hungary have made a combined 1,215 appearances in Europe’s major leagues. Hungary’s team, by contrast, have made just 842 — and almost half of those were clocked up by two players, Peter Gulacsi and Willi Orban.

McGinn and Robertson, especially, had disappointing tournaments, given their usual high standards for Aston Villa and Liverpool respectively. Only in the final game did McGinn demonstrate his bustling qualities, and even then it was only in brief spells. As a team, Scotland were considerably less than the sum of their parts.

As the nation focuses on what went wrong in Germany, attention will again turn to Clarke’s decision to bench Gilmour in the opening match against the hosts. Nobody would suggest that Gilmour’s inclusion would have prevented Germany from winning, but the omission of the Brighton midfielder — Scotland’s best technician — was a cautious, defensive move which ultimately set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

Aside from their second match, in which they showed more fizz, Scotland’s performances in Germany were defined by a lack of aggression and intensity. A lack of willingness to attack the opponent, to roll the dice and see where boldness might take them. Their magnificent supporters won plenty of admirers in Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart, but the same simply cannot be said for a team that was so passive.

“It is devastating,” said Robertson. “I will say thank you to all the supporters. Sorry for letting you all down.”

Clearly, a reset is required by Clarke and his coaching staff. Scotland have now won just one game — against Gibraltar — of their last 12 in all competitions. Injuries did not help them at Euro 2024, and they were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty against Hungary, but the reality is that Scotland, once again, failed to rise to the occasion.