Highlights: Scotland 0-3 Greece

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland at Hampden Park

Soft Scotland succumbed to relegation from Nations League A with a woeful defeat by Greece at Hampden in the play-off second leg.

Despite bringing an impressive win back home from Piraeus on Thursday, head coach Steve Clarke forewarned his side and their supporters the tie "was not dead yet".

His shrewd advice was painfully accurate yet pitifully ignored.

Giannis Konstantelias had the freedom of the national stadium to strike Greece level on aggregate and silence the Tartan Army, who had paid tribute to one of their favourite sons, Denis Law, pre-match.

Though it was only Konstantinos Karetsas' first start for Ivan Jovanovic's side – having come off the bench to ignite their second-half pressure in the first leg – the 17-year-old has already announced himself as a Greek treasure after switching allegiances from Belgium.

Karetsas' curled cracker minutes before half-time was nothing less than his performance deserved.

Those in dark blue were booed off at the break and such frustration was vented further when, just 13 seconds into the second half, Christos Tzolis smashed the Greeks' third past Craig Gordon.

Scotland were shellshocked and struggling for words, never mind answers. Clarke called on the cavalry as much as he could, even handing a debut to 18-year-old Hearts striker James Wilson, but the hosts were devoid of direction.

They will head back into Nations League B, while Greece propel up to the top tier of the competition.

Lost Scotland choke at crunch time

Scotland concede a third 13 seconds into second half

On an evening the man they called 'King' was commemorated by all including his old pal Sir Alex Ferguson, Scotland were crying out for the magic of the Lawman.

Like in Greece, they made an explosive start, building on the stirring pre-match atmosphere created in honour of legendary striker Law, who died in January at age 84.

Unlike a few days ago, though, they could not create a case deserving of a goal.

Konstantelias' opener punctured the place and from then on, Scotland never looked like replicating the storm the Greeks brought on Thursday.

Clarke's side were terrorised down the left, while Ryan Christie – the only change from the first leg – looked lost out wide, having excelled more centrally for Bournemouth this season.

But in truth, even Scotland's tried and trusted in their safe space appeared disorientated.

It was a far cry from the all-round performance on Thursday that garnered much praise and instead one which regurgitates questions about this team that surfaced last year at Euro 2024.

The Scots showed their fight and mettle to force this play-off, but choked at crunch time.

Karetsas kicks Greece into gear

Karetsas, 17, puts Greece ahead on aggregate

There was a feeling on Thursday the real Greece did not stand up. At Hampden, they ensured there was no repeat.

Jovanovic has unearthed a gem in Karetsas, who may not be at Genk for long. He made things look easy, though Scotland didn't put much in his way.

The way the attacking midfielder linked with his team-mates, you would think he had played with them for years, not just one week.

Much has already been made of the "pretty special" starlet. If Scotland have any great hopes of revenge when they face the Greeks later in the year in World Cup qualifying, a keener eye will need to be kept on Karetsas.

The visitors outplayed Scotland and backed up their own impressive League B campaign - including a win at Wembley - which many felt merited promotion to League A in itself.

Greece will do just fine on that stage, whereas Scotland showed why the second tier is more suited to their level.

What they said

Clarke will 'look to see what I could have done better'

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke: "I talked about setting down a marker before the game, Greece have done that tonight.

"Greece were the better team on the night. I'll go away and look at myself to see what I could have done better. Maybe I didn't make enough rotations. Maybe I could have made more to freshen the team up.

"We have to analyse it, park this tournament because we go down to League B, and try to do better."

Scotland midfielder John McGinn: "We started pretty well, had a couple of chances, we just let ourselves down with the first goal we conceded. We've got to reflect now before two friendlies in the summer.

"It's an embarrassing night for us, everyone is flat in the stadium, we let ourselves down."

Scotland midfielder Ryan Christie: "We're not naive enough to know we're going to have it all our way. There's been plenty bumps in the road and this is probably going to be one of them.

"It's about how we react from this and bounce back to hopefully get ourselves in a really good place going into the World Cup qualifiers."

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