Scotland ratings vs Portugal: Three brilliant 8s as national team infuriate the elite at Hampden

Scotland impressed and dug in for a 0-0 draw against Portugal in their latest Nations League clash.

Scott McTominay passed up an early header to put Scotland ahead, before Portugal mounted some chances of their own in a scrappy affair. Chances were at an even greater premium after half-time as an away side filled with top tier talent were left frustrated in Mount Florida. The nation sit on a point in Nations League A Group 1. Clashes with Croatia and Poland away from home await the nation in November.

Having won once in 15 matches, the pressure was on head coach Steve Clarke and his players. Performances hadn’t been a disaster, but Tartan Army members who gathered inside Hampden were desperate for a result to fully clean away the lingering disappointment Euro 2024 brought.

Against Cristiano Ronaldo and his band of elite-level aces, this would be no easy task to get off zero points, at the fourth attempt. If Portugal had one goal machine to look up to, Scotland certainly had one in McTominay, with the Napoli midfielder no doubt ruing a free header inside the box from a perfect Andy Robertson cross. Goalkeeper Diogo Costa wasn’t tested by the effort from mere yards out.

Ronaldo got his first shot on target inside eight minutes but it was held well by Hearts keeper Craig Gordon. The experienced stopper had to be alert soon after to make sure a Nuno Mendes free-kick didn’t creep into the top corner. Scotland hadn’t caused much threat in attack after the opening exchanges but they were limiting Portugal’s might too.

An audacious overhead kick from Ronaldo and cries of being penalised went down a whistling storm with the Tartan Army, as frustrations on the Portuguese side of things grew evident. A Vitinha slash over the bar just about summed up their half in a scrappy game Scotland were ought to be fairly pleased with.

Ronaldo wasn’t having it his way at all up against a sturdy host and jeering crowd, and parts of Hampden expected the net to bulge when he was afforded a header inside the box, that instead sailed harmlessly over. Even as Scotland gifted them chances like Ben Doak’s loose pass that resulted in a Chico Conceicao effort, Portugal couldn’t even come close to troubling Gordon.

When you’re able to turn to the likes of Bernardo Silva, Ruben Neves and Rafael Leao off the bench though, it shows you have squad depth most nations can only dream of. But it did very little in terms of shaking the firm foundations of this Scotland defence, who had started chucking a bit more caution to the wind themselves with a few forward forays. In the end they couldn’t find a way to goal but the petulance of Ronaldo as he sulked off the pitch showed the measure of their efforts on a morale-boosting night. Here’s how we rated the Scotland players.