Scotland Fans Booing After Japan Loss Surprises and Disappoints Clarke

The same fans who roared Scotland to their first World Cup in 28 years were still inside Hampden Park when the boos rang out, a reaction that surprised and visibly stung manager Steve Clarke after a 1-0 friendly defeat by Japan.

Substitute Junya Ito settled the matter with a goal in the 84th minute, converting to give Japan the win in what had looked likely to end goalless. The home crowd's frustration at the final whistle prompted Clarke to address the atmosphere head-on in his post-match comments.

"Yes and it disappointed me to be honest," Clarke said. "It's just the modern way, it seems to be now if you lose a game you get booed. You have just got to deal with it. It disappoints me."

The contrast with November was stark. Scotland had been cheered off this same Hampden turf after a dramatic 4-2 win over Denmark sealed their place at the North America World Cup finals for the first time since 1998. Their return to the national stadium for the opening warm-up fixture was, by Clarke's own telling, heading somewhere far quieter before Ito intervened.

"To lose it on the goal [we conceded] is disappointing," Clarke said. "The game at that stage looked like it was going to peter out to a 0-0 draw. We made a mistake, probably tried to go forward too early, got caught and they managed to score off it."

Clarke was not without positives. He singled out Middlesbrough forward Tommy Conway for praise after his second Scotland start, saying Conway "did really well coming off the left side and didn't do himself any harm tonight." Clarke also reserved specific praise for his midfield unit: "I liked my midfield, my midfield was strong. We played a lot of good stuff and I think we can be a bit more progressive to get to the top end of the pitch, but against top opposition sometimes that's difficult."

Both sides had hit the woodwork in the first half, and Clarke framed the quality of the opposition as the clearest measure of where Scotland need to be. Japan's pressing game, he argued, was precisely the kind of challenge his squad will face at Group C, where Scotland meet Haiti, Morocco and Brazil this summer.

Kenny McLean, the Norwich City midfielder, offered a similarly measured read. "A disappointing result. It's good to get these challenges, we're trying to prepare as well as we can for a big summer ahead," McLean said. "The shape was decent enough at times. The second half was a bit better out of possession, but I think we could have been a bit more threatening at the top end of the pitch." He added: "There's an expectation now and we want those expectations on us. We want to reach a new level."

Former Scotland striker Billy Dodds was less diplomatic about what the night lacked. "We're down because there was nothing for the crowd to get up for," Dodds said. "It was flat. There was industry and effort but no X-factor." He acknowledged the caliber of the opponent but said Scotland cannot arrive at Tuesday's fixture against Ivory Coast in the same vein: "We must get a win at some point to get momentum and maybe that's why we've chosen Curacao as the last fixture at home. But I would like us to play better against Ivory Coast and solve a few problems." Scotland legend James McFadden echoed that view, finding elements to build on while conceding the team were below their best.

Clarke expects to make six or seven changes when Scotland face Ivory Coast at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool on Tuesday, part of a deliberate strategy of scheduling difficult opponents to raise standards ahead of the tournament. "Sometimes, I think my players look at me and say 'come on gaffer what are you doing?' I always try to pick difficult friendlies," he said. "This is where you have to be at. This is the level you have to reach and if you want to get the points that are going to get you out of the group stage, you have to play to that standard."

Scotland face Curacao on 30 May and one further unnamed opponent before departing for North America. The program Clarke has constructed leaves little margin for comfortable evenings at Hampden, whatever the crowd makes of the results.