Angus Gunn’s unseen moment of Scotland magic tv footage washed over

It should go down as one of the best ever saves from a Scottish keeper at a Euros, writes Scott McDermott in Cologne.

But incredibly, Angus Gunn got little credit for making it against Switzerland on Wednesday night. With the Group A clash level, Dan Ndoye was clean through on Scotland’s goal after defender Kieran Tierney had gone down with a hamstring injury.

The Bologna forward was one-on-one with Gunn and appeared to pull his shot wide of target, letting the Scots off the hook. Even Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzliak immediately pointed for a goal-kick. But the Swiss players knew differently – and so did Gunn. If you watch it again, the Norwich City keeper had produced one of the saves of his life to keep Steve Clarke’s team in the tournament.

That’s how big it was. If Ndoye’s strike had gone in, it’s almost certain Scotland would be on their way home from Euro 2024. The 1-1 draw felt like a night of redemption for Gunn and the rest of Clarke’s players.

After a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Germany, they responded brilliantly against the Swiss. Gunn was heavily criticised for conceding a couple of soft goals in Munich. But his fine display in Cologne will have restored the supporters’ faith that he’s still Scotland’s undisputed No.1.

Even if hardly anyone in the stadium realised it was the best save of the night. As he now prepares for Sunday night’s do-or-die match with Hungary in Stuttgart, Gunn said: “I made a couple of big saves to keep us in it on Wednesday and, as the manager always says, that’s what the goalkeeper needs to do.

“I was called upon against Switzerland and I felt I did well in the game. One of the saves probably didn’t get seen because the referee gave a goal-kick but hopefully they show the replays on the television!

“It wasn’t just me – everyone after last Friday night felt like we didn’t do ourselves justice. I carried a bit of anger from the Germany game into the Switzerland one and I tried to use it in a positive way. I thought every player showed that on the pitch.

“We need to take it into Sunday as well to try and get the win. That anger was evident in all of the players. Listen, the game last Friday was embarrassing for all of us in front of our families and the fans. We had to show a reaction and I feel like we did that.”

While Gunn came up with a stunning stop to thwart Ndoye, he had no chance with Xherdan Shaqiri’s strike that got the Swiss back in the game after Scott McTominay’s early opener.

Latching on to a misplaced pass from Anthony Ralston, the 32-year-old didn’t even take a touch before curling a goal-of-the-tournament contender into the top corner.

Gunn could only admire Shaqiri’s audacity and quality to pull it off. However, he also praised team-mate Ralston for his powers of recovery. He said: “The goal Switzerland scored was a reminder that any mistake you make at this level, you get punished for it.

“We did really well in limiting mistakes but Shaqiri has the quality to hurt you and it was an unbelievable finish. I thought we responded well, got to half-time and in the second half we were a lot more positive in trying to get the win.

“Anthony reacted really well after his mistake. He showed great mental strength to play a brilliant second half. He was cramping up after 75 minutes but did so well to finish the game off.

“Fair play to him. He is an important player for us and to show that kind of resilience? That’s what we all need in the next game to get us into the knockout stages.

“The result and performance against Switzerland will boost confidence and morale in the camp – because it’s in complete contrast to what we produced in the Germany game. It shows the supporters a lot more of what we’re all about and we now need to take that into Sunday’s game and go for the win.”

Gunn feels like he’s now preparing for a cup final against Hungary as a win for Scotland will see them get out of their group at a major tournament for the first time ever. Gunn admits it’s probably the biggest game he’ll ever have been involved in.

But the 28-year-old believes Clarke’s men have now officially turned up at Euro 2024 after their display against the Swiss. And he’s desperate to ensure the travelling Tartan Army don’t have to book return flights just yet.

Gunn said: “That was a lot more like us. The performance was good, we got a positive result and it takes it to the last group game now.

“It’s going to be a cup final on Sunday, 100 per cent. Hungary have lost their two games so they’ll be hurting. That will be dangerous for us so we know that we’ll have to be right on it. But we also know what we have to do to reach our target and we’ll go into the match with that in mind.

“Obviously, we would have liked to get more points on the board earlier but to still be in it going to the last game – it
gives us great belief. We know we can go there on Sunday and get the win.

“And if we perform like we did against Switzerland, I think it will give us a great chance. All of these games are the biggest games of our careers. Because we know we can create history. The next one gives us that chance and hopefully we can get the victory for the country, ourselves, our families – and make everyone proud.

“We know what our fans are about and now the rest of Europe is being shown that too. Our job is to give them something on the pitch that they can shout about and I honestly thought we did that on Wednesday night. Hopefully we can keep them out in Germany for a bit longer.”