Another blank for Junior national side

Scotland has made enormous strides in world football, but there’s always something around the corner to slap us in the face and remind us that success doesn’t come overnight. One such disappointment was last year’s U-20 World Cup in Canada, where the lads lost all three matches and finished last in Group F. Now, another brilliant qualification campaign at the junior levels has been followed up by another real disappointment in actual tournament play. The U-17 European Championships are well underway, and the group stages finished up this week. Scotland did well to qualify, winning Group 5 of the elite qualifying, including wins over Wales, Slovenia and Northern Ireland. Admittedly it was not a hugely challenging group, but it was a very promising run of games for the young Scots. In particular, Rangers’ young prospect John Fleck had a great qualifying campaign, scoring three of Scotland’s five goals. The actual tournament, however, has been a very different story. The eight qualifying group winners were separated into two tournament groups, with Scotland drawing Turkey, the Netherlands and Serbia. It seemed like a relatively good draw, especially in that we avoided both France and Spain. However, the team will return to Scotland’s shores a bit humbled, after losing all three of their group matches, and failing to score a single goal. They should hold their heads up, having qualified for a tournament missed out on by powerhouses like Italy and Germany, but coming home without a single goal will be hard on the lads. Let’s hope they learn the right lessons from it.