Gritty Scotland give themselves a chance of making history with progress to knockouts still a possibility after outperforming Switzerland, writes IAN HERBERT

The Tartan Army had gathered on the steps of Cologne’s monumental cathedral at lunchtime, chanting ‘No Scotland, No Party’ – the joke being that there was no point in going to that huge place to pray because it was not big enough for the help the country needed.

The sun shone as they drove towards Innenstadt and to the stadium, and long before kick-off approached, the supreme, infectious Scottish optimism was back. Even those too young to remember were forcibly reminded of the Boys of ’96.

That is, the Scottish team that defeated Switzerland 1-0 at the European Championship in Birmingham that summer, keeping alive their hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds. Scotland have not won a tournament match since.

Well, they’re still waiting for that win, although what happened here on Wednesday night certainly felt like it, when a wave of royal blue support on the banks of the Rhine lifted a team that looked terribly threatened, and left them alive. to fight another day. A win against Hungary in Stuttgart on Sunday could take Scotland to the knockout stages of a tournament for the first time, as one of the top four third-placed teams to progress.

It will be a nerve-wracking four days, even if they win that match. Four points should be enough to see them through, even if goal difference counts, and that’s obviously not great. Albania, like Scotland, has one point from two games, but still has to play against Spain.

Xherdan Shaqiri restored parity and spoiled the Scottish party with a stunning first strike

In the cold light of day there will also be the issue of Scotland’s defense – stripped of Kieran Tierney, who was stretchered off with a torn hamstring as he battled to keep out dangerous Swiss striker Dan Ndoye. “It looks pretty bad,” said Steve Clarke. “He certainly won’t play the next game.” His tournament seems to be over, now that Scott McKenna, on loan from Nottingham Forest at FC Copenhagen, is in action. Clarke may choose to switch to a four-man defense.

Tierney is the only elite part of a Scotland defense that has scored 26 goals in 10 games and looked vulnerable again. The equalizer for Switzerland came when the defense tried to play triangles, with catastrophic effect. Two weak touches preceded Anthony Ralston effectively playing the ball into the path of Xherdan Shaqiri, who executed a superb finish. The equalizer was a heavy blow as by then Scotland seemed to have rediscovered the spirit of their qualifying campaign.

You wouldn’t say it was a European refinement from Scotland. Just direct, vertical, muscular and very effective football. And it worked. ‘This is how we play. This is how we work,’ Clarke thought late last night. ‘The aggression, the fighting, the dirty side of the game, if you like. But we can also play.’

There was also the mercurial skill of Billy Gilmour, who was recalled to midfield – and who should never have been missing there against the Germans in the first place – in finding the spaces and passing between the lines. No player was more committed or creative.

Yes, Scotland’s opening goal was a moment of extreme luck – Scott McTominay’s strike deflected off defender Fabian Schar – but Gilmour of Brighton and Hove Albion played a key role in the build-up. His chest check on the halfway line, facing his own goal, and a measured pass sent Andy Robertson galloping away. The captain appeared to fractionally overshoot the pass to Callum McGregor, who turned to weigh the ball inside for McTominay to strike.

Scotland were on the rack after the equalizer and it was hard not to fear for them despite the quick, precise, elegant Swiss counter-attack. The Scottish nation held their breath as Ruben Vargas slipped a reverse pass to Dan Ndoye on the overlap, only to see him slip around Kieran Tierney and unfold a pass that Angus Gunn palmed away.

It was the Tartan Army that put things back in order and produced a sound the likes of which this tournament has simply not seen. “Oh Scott McTominay!” they sing. ‘I love him till my heart aches. He likes the Tartan Army. He has rejected the English!’

That doesn’t always happen in football, but on this occasion the energy really went from the stands to the field. There was a level of aggression that simply wasn’t on display in last Friday’s desperate defeat.

Steve Clarke needed a response after Germany’s 5-1 upset on opening night

If Scotland beat Hungary, they have a good chance of qualifying from their group

Kieran Tierney was left distraught when he was stretchered off with an injury in the second half

Ndoye had a goal disallowed in the first half as Scotland breathed a huge sigh of relief

The relief was even greater when a late goal from Breel Embolo was disallowed for offside

It was McTominay who brought the team’s biggest attacking threats. He was the one who won the free-kick on the right side of the Swiss penalty area, executed by Robertson, onto which Grant Hanley, racing in front of Schar, threw himself. The ball crashed into the base of Yann Sommer’s right post.

Robertson, who has spent the last six months defending Scotland, was back to his best. McGregor made a huge shift in midfield. Clarke removed Gilmour for Kenny McClean and later insisted that ‘the little man was tired.’ In reality, he looked like he could have run all night.

“This is the way we have played as a team for the last three or four years,” Clarke reflected afterwards. ‘We knew what we had to do. Back to what we are good at. Working hard.’

When the whistle blew, McTominay was crouched down, his face red from the effort that leaves Scotland safe in the knowledge that their team can still make a little piece of history. Where there is life, there is certainly hope.