Just when they believed that Steve Clarke had succeeded in turning the stricken tanker around, a familiar sinking feeling washed over the majority housed inside Hampden.
After all the talk of a second coming under the manager, all the promise which emanated from a spirited display in Piraeus last Thursday, Scotland are going down to the second tier of the Nations League.
The fight to come back from a pretty hopeless position at the midway point in the group had been commendable, but has ultimately counted for nothing.
This was a bruising loss, one which recalled the old wisdom about it always being the hope that kills you.
After four games unbeaten and three straight wins, there was a palpable sense of progress to soothe the wounds of last summer’s calamitous Euros in Germany.
Greece, with five wins from six from their own Nations League campaign, are evidently a side on the rise. By no stretch of the imagination, though, are they a team to leave you quaking in your boots.
Greece winger Christos Tzolis puts the tie out of Scotland’s reach with the third goal at Hampden
Craig Gordon and Grant Hanley look back in despair as Karetsas curls in his team’s second
Scotland were very much the architects of their own downfall here. Having initially looked capable of extending the lead they brought into this second leg, they became profligate in front of goal and began to make some truly dreadful errors.
As Clarke’s players lost their nerve in the final third, Ivan Jovanovic’s side grew in confidence. Crucially, they took their chances. When Christos Tzolis claimed their third of the night in the opening moments of the second half, it was their third shot on target at that point.
You had to hand it to the visitors. Having done everything but score in the first leg, they might have come here with some psychological baggage. Yet they were not in any danger from the moment that Konstantinos Karetsas, their 17-year-old rising star, added to Giannis Konstantelias’ opener on the cusp of half-time. The truth is they could have won by more.
Rarely a man who lets his emotions show in public, Clarke’s grimace at full-time said it all as the fans voiced their displeasure. This was a desperately poor performance.
His side just didn’t turn up here, didn’t do themselves justice and could offer no complaints about the comprehensive nature of the defeat.
It felt, for all the world, reminiscent of the letdowns that we witnessed in Germany last summer.
For all the strides the team have made under the manager in the past six years, there have been too many of these lapses.
It was a poignant old night on Glasgow’s South Side. Coming 30 years after the untimely passing of Davie Cooper, this was also Scotland’s first home game since the death of Denis Law in January.
The life and times of Scotland’s joint all-time top scorer were fittingly commemorated before kick-off with a tifo and the sight of Sir Alex Ferguson holding the great man’s jersey aloft.
Clarke was never going to deviate from the formula which yielded the first-leg win. That meant no place for Kieran Tierney and no change from the flat back four which had provided the foundation for this recent revival.
Scotland had seen enough from Karetsas in the second half on Thursday to appreciate that giving the teenager time and space was a recipe for disaster.
The frustration was that, for the 20 minutes before he fashioned the opener, Clarke’s men hadn’t allowed the men in white an opportunity to breathe.
Yet when the teenager took possession of the ball on the left flank, those in Dark Blue seemed to be lost in a trance.
Giorgos Vagiannidis’s overlapping run went unchecked. The full-back made for the line, looked up and spotted Konstantelias unmarked.
Having checked his run, Konstantelias hammered the ball first-time low beyond Craig Gordon. It was a textbook example of the perils of switching off for a second at this level.
Scotland by that stage were already ruing missed opportunities. On his 50th cap, Kenny McLean’s first act was to bend a ball round the Greek defence for Scott McTominay.
The Napoli midfielder’s shot was on target, but weak and easily saved by Kostas Tzolakis. Seconds later, McTominay’s attempt to beat the keeper was foiled by a deflection.
Clarke would have been fairly pleased with the way his players started. They played with an assurance and a decent tempo. All of that went out of the window in the moments after they conceded.
They made unforced errors and began trying to force the play. Christie’s lapse in concentration gifted Vangelis Pavlidis a chance. Gordon was relieved to see the ball fly over, but Greece were now in the ascendancy.
Arriving three minutes from the break, their second goal was another poor episode from Scotland’s perspective.
John Souttar and Kieran Tierney show their frustration with a result that relegates Scotland
Anthony Ralston was taken out with a simple pass when Dimitris Giannoulis found a pocket of space down the left flank. His cross found Konstantelias with time to gather the ball and assess his options. He rolled it back to Karetsas. A brilliant left-foot strike curled into the far corner with Gordon rooted to the spot.
It was beginning to feel like one of those awful nights. Teed up by McTominay, John McGinn’s effort just a few minutes earlier was straight at the keeper. It was a recurring theme. Scotland simply hadn’t delivered in the big moments.
What was already a difficult task became even more arduous within 16 seconds of the restart.
Ralston’s heavy touch preceded an elementary error by Christie. Konstantelias rolled in Tzolis.
To the disbelief of the thousands who were yet to retake their seats, the Brugge forward curled the ball beyond Gordon’s reach. After a decent start, a disaster was now unfolding.
Clarke looked to his bench early, with Tierney, George Hirst and Lewis Ferguson thrown on. Ferguson’s first contribution was to take Karetsas out with a raised arm at the cost of a booking.
There just wasn’t enough guile about Scotland. Having delivered such a controlled performance in the first half last Thursday, they became ragged and increasingly desperate.
Too many balls were launched into the channels more in hope than expectation. Too few short passes reached their intended target.
Even though only two goals were required to take the tie to extra-time and Clarke threw on forward after forward, they did not look like making it interesting.
The truth is they were well beaten in the end. They’ll have a chance to avenge this loss when Greece come into view in the World Cup qualifiers at the end of the year, but who would fancy that right now? it will be some time before the prospect holds much appeal.
