Scotland media react to what ‘unlucky’ John Souttar did in win vs Greece
John Souttar played a full part for Scotland in their crucial 3-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Greece on Thursday night.
Steve Clarke’s men took a massive step towards securing a place at next year’s finals thanks to a late show at Hampden Park.
Lewis Ferguson and Lyndon Dykes struck in the final 10 minutes after Ryan Christie had cancelled out Kostas Tsimikas’ strike just after the hour mark.
Souttar has been a regular for Scotland this campaign and played his part in what was a memorable victory for his country.
The local media certainly had plenty to say, with Ibrox News rounding up a selection of those views.
John Souttar unable to prevent Greece goal
Scotland supporters starting booing when their side fell behind to Tsimikas’ goal, which Souttar was unable to keep out.
As The Scotsman put it, Souttar – who was given a 7/10 rating – was “unfortunate that his block to stop a net-bound effort fell to Tsimikas”.
- Interceptions: 1
- Clearances: 3
- Blocked shots: 1
- Passing accuracy 95.5%
It was also pointed out that Souttar was given a tougher time of things by Greece forward Vangelis Pavlidis compared to central-defensive partner Grant Hanley, but he stood up to the test.
The Edinburgh Evening News, meanwhile, gave Souttar a slightly lesser rating of 6/10 but described his display as “sure-footed”, with the defender “unlucky” when it came to Greece’s goal.
The Scottish Daily Mail also picked up on Souttar’s physical battle with Pavlidis as they also gave the Rangers ace a 6/10, adding that he “put his body on the line” to help Scotland battle back for the win.
Scotland in control of World Cup destiny
The dramatic turnaround means Scotland are looking good value to book a place in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
If Scotland beat Belarus on Sunday, which they are strong favourites to do, and Greece lose to Denmark, then the Tartan Army will be guaranteed on of the top-two place in the group.
Souttar will almost certainly start that next match at the weekend, and Rangers fans will hope he can come through unscathed in time for the Gers’ return to action against Dundee United on 18 October.
Steven Gerrard will likely be appointed by Rangers before then, with talks now fully underway.
In the longer-term, it now looks a strong possibility Souttar will be heading to the World Cup, which no Rangers fan would begrudge him.
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