Scotland match-winner David Marshall insists it cannot sink in yet what Steve Clarke’s side have achieved by ending their tournament heartbreak.
His save from Aleksandar Mitrovic’s spot-kick, after five perfect effort from his Scotland colleagues, ensures the nation will appear at Euro 2020 next year after 22 years without a major competition.
Scotland had looked to be heading there in normal time thanks to Ryan Christie’s goal, only for Luka Jovic to score at the end of normal time.
In a repeat of their performance from the spot against Israel last month, which got them to this stage, Scotland netted all five penalties to allow Marshall to make his decisive intervention.
What a moment!! David Marshall sends Scotland to their first major tournament for 22 years 🏴 pic.twitter.com/A8nLnhAcei
— P&J Sport (@PandJSport) November 12, 2020
Marshall said: “It has been so long and I am a certain age as well where I can remember old tournaments and we’ve not been there for so long. It’s a massively emotional feeling and I am just delighted to be there.
“It has probably not sunk in terms of what is going to happen now. Ryan Christie was in tears and it shows how much it means to the lads to get there.
“Families were willing us on, fans that can’t be here. Hopefully by next summer everyone will get their chance to go.
“I said to Callum McGregor it’s just the best way to win it. Had we lost it would have been gut-wrenching. If you are going to do it the lads scoring ten out of ten penalties under that pressure is just incredible.
“It was just such a relief to get there. The joy and the scenes in the dressing room are unbelievable.”
The Derby County stopper admitted a moment of indecisiveness after his save, as he checked to see if it was going to be pulled back and retaken by VAR.
Marshall added: “I just hoped and prayed it didn’t got to a retake because the lads were on their way and they probably didn’t know it was being checked. But I did think it was good.
“I never really had a tiny bit of doubt but the referee was good all night and he let us know pretty quickly. When you’ve waited 22 years what’s another four or five seconds.
“We did a lot of prep, we had a plan for the match if there was a single penalty and then Woodsy’s (Steve Woods, goalkeeping coach) great because you need a lot of information quickly as soon as the game finishes and he’s great with that.
“I actually was disappointed at the first because I was going to stand for Tadic’s one but you might as well take it to the last penalty for that little bit more excitement!”
This is what it means 🥰#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/E3XU9F93Sz
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) November 12, 2020