Scotland were physically and mentally exhausted after a gruelling 90 minutes of play in the late summer heat of Lisbon, and once again failed to reach the finish line.
Just like on Thursday night against Poland at Hampden, the goal conceded was a slap in the face for Steve Clarke’s side, meaning a point they had had to fight hard for.
Clarke is now one of the big boys in European football and desperately needs Pot A of the Nations League.
While Scotland may have gotten away with these mistakes against lesser teams in the past, they are now being punished harshly.
Clarke and Scotland have endured a truly dismal run of results, with them winning just once in their last 14 games.
Even the most optimistic Scotland fan would not have expected the series to be halted last night, but this match felt different to previous games.
Billy Gilmour and substitute Ben Doak look back on the bitter end in Lisbon at the final round
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez consoles Steve Clarke after his team secured a victory in the closing stages
Match winner Ronaldo – who else? – gets praise from Neves and Fernando after scoring
Scotland experienced a number of problems on their flight to Lisbon on Saturday, with their delayed flight eventually landing at an old military base some 100 miles outside the Portuguese capital.
Given the level of demoralisation within the Tartan Army in recent months, there was a feeling that Scotland might as well have come up with Air Force One and it would not have made any difference.
Even without captain Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting line-up, expectations were that Portugal would fire up the jet engines and blast off.
But the feelings of pessimism and fear among the travelling supporters were already put to rest after seven minutes when Scott McTominay headed the ball past Diogo Costa: 1-0.
That gave Scotland hope. Andy Roxburgh once said that ‘a team died there’ after his Scots suffered a 5-0 defeat in Lisbon over 30 years ago.
On the contrary, Clarke’s team now had a pulse again. They had something to fight for. Keeping Portugal at bay for the remaining 83 minutes would of course be a monumental task.
Scott McTominay’s header gave Scotland an unlikely lead and continued their scoring form
What a strange night it was for Angus Gunn, who continues to excel as much as he terrifies.
Make no secret of it: if it hadn’t been for Gunn’s second-half heroics, Scotland would have lost this match by a much bigger margin than a single goal.
He shone by denying Joao Felix two goals in the second half and once by clearing the ball off the line with a magnificent swing of his right arm.
But there’s a problem with Gunn. In addition to all his highlight reel stuff, he also throws one in. It’s been happening more and more over the past year.
By the end of the qualifying campaign for Euro 2024, Gunn had already built up a fair amount of credit.
Gunn was brought on as a replacement for the injured Craig Gordon and kept four clean sheets in those first five games.
Angus Gunn had an at times inspiring night in goal, this time keeping Joao Felix offside
But the mistakes are becoming more frequent and prominent. It started in the friendlies against Northern Ireland and the Netherlands before the European Championship.
That dip continued in Germany and has carried over into this campaign. He was responsible for Poland’s first goal at Hampden and was weak again last night when Bruno Fernandes made it 1-1.
Some people might find that harsh, considering Gunn made a number of good saves towards the end of the game, but it is Gunn’s ability to do the basics that causes so much unrest.
The saves in the highlight reels mean nothing if he can’t make saves on shots taken from such a distance that they might as well have come from anywhere else.
But even despite the defeat and the goal conceded in the closing stages, this was a fairly positive evening for Clarke overall.
That’s not to glorify failure. Far from it. But there was a genuine fear that Scotland could lose by five or six points last night.
Ronaldo exchanges words with devastated Scotland captain Andy Robertson during the final phase
The fear that the Portuguese defence would be torn apart by the razor-sharp attacking play, even though Ronaldo was on the bench from the start.
When you saw Rafael Leao beat Tony Ralston time and time again with his speed, it wasn’t hard to understand where those fears came from.
Ralston has probably been having nightmares about Jamal Musiala for the past few months after that horror performance in Munich.
Leao is a mix of speed and trickery on the left flank. He is cut from the same cloth and caused Ralston all sorts of problems.
But Scotland caused problems of their own. Admittedly, they were sometimes too deep, especially in that first period after they had taken a 1-0 lead.
It wasn’t just a case of being thrashed by Portugal for the rest of the match. Scotland offered enough to suggest that all is not lost under Clarke.
Rafael Leao was a springboard for the home side and provided Scottish defender Ralston with a thrilling evening
Where Roxburgh’s team died in Lisbon all those years ago, Scotland experienced a kind of revival. This was not a night for obituaries, but a night when this team showed life.
The sting of another late defeat will no doubt be painful as Scotland travel home straight afterwards.
With a trip to Zagreb to take on Croatia next month, things won’t get much easier for Clarke and his players.
But this was a performance that at least showed some fighting spirit. The idea that this team is throwing in the towel is premature.