Ryan Christie claims Scotland’s character can’t be questioned after positive response to early Boston blow

Ryan Christie believes Scotland’s character is now beyond reproach after they pushed Morocco all the way.

A goal down after 70 seconds, Steve Clarke’s players briefly looked like they could find themselves on the wrong end of a heavy defeat in Boston.

But having belatedly settled, a much-improved second half display saw them push for the equaliser which would have effectively sealed qualification for the last 32.

And Bournemouth midfielder Christie feels the difference from Friday’s loss and others in the two previous Euros pointed to an improved mentality in the squad.

Asked if he was proud of the way the side worked their way back into the game, Christie said: ‘I really am, that’s exactly it.

‘You look at other major tournament games we’ve played and obviously in the Germany game (5-1 in 2024) we didn’t start right.

‘That one went a very different way, so you can see this group of boys have learned from that.

‘We know what’s on the line here. You couldn’t lose your head and get beaten by three, four or five and we managed to not let that happen.

‘So, even though the immediate feeling was frustration, there’s a lot we can take from the game.

‘All we were missing in the end was a break to get us the goal we needed.

‘We’re frustrated not to get on the scoresheet, because we put so much confidence in our structure, knowing that we’d probably have one or two chances at the other end to grab a goal.

‘Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

‘As for the one we lost, I’m sure we’ll go over it and pinpoint what went wrong. It was hardly an ideal start to the game, especially going in against really tough, top opposition.’

Scotland returned to their base in Charlotte on Saturday and will prepare to travel to Miami on Monday ahead of the Brazil game on Wednesday.

Once the dust has settled on the disappointing result in the second game, Christie feels the squad will pack their bags for Florida with a sense of belief.

‘There are lots of reasons to feel confident for the Brazil game,’ he added. ‘There’s the quality we’ve got in our squad, quality we produced against a team that went toe to toe with Brazil last week.

‘Then there’s the belief, the team spirit. I’ve never been part of something like it.

‘So, you know we’ll pick ourselves up. We’re good at doing that as a squad as a group. We’ll go to Miami and we’ll bounce back.

‘We’ll take confidence from playing against some world class players here and, like they did against Brazil, going toe to toe with them.

‘Then hopefully we’ll create chances ourselves and cause Brazil problems. I’m sure we will.

‘We go into the Brazil game with the same mentality as we always have, it’s obviously another very difficult opponent, but we have to go in there and try and get something from the game. We want to get through to the next stage of this competition.

‘Before then, the next few days is a chance to rest and recover a bit, but it’s a quick turnaround for Wednesday night in Miami.’

Meanwhile, Christie says he also couldn’t comprehend why John McGinn wasn’t given a penalty for a foul by Neil El Aynaoui.

Coming early in the second half, the inaction of Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev might well have huge implications for Scotland’s ambitions in this tournament.

‘I had a pretty good look at the one on McGinn and thought it could definitely be given – but not much was being given throughout the game,’ he said.

‘Honestly, I’ve never been in a game like that, especially at this level. It normally goes stricter the bigger the tournament, but this referee was the most lenient I’ve seen in a long time – though maybe lenient is putting it nicely.

‘It wasn’t to be. Maybe on another night that kind of break goes our way.”