14 June 2024 , 22:22
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Scotland boss Steve Clarke was involved in a furious touchline spat with his coach Austin MacPhee during their heavy 5-1 defeat to Germany in Munich.
The clash, which took place during the second half of Scotland's Euro 2024 opener with the tournament hosts, was spotted by ITV commentator Sam Matterface following a botched free-kick routine. MacPhee, who is also part of the coaching staff at Premier League side Aston Villa, was on the receiving end of Clarke's ire as they exchanged heated words in the dugout.
Matterface claimed: "It wasn't shown on your screen but that all came from a disappointing Scotland free-kick and there was a bit of an argument going on in the Scotland technical area between Steve Clarke and Austin MacPhee. Clarke wanted them to utilise that set piece better."
Ally McCoist, the Scottish football legend and co-commentator for the match, chimed in and said: "You'd have thought so. It's an opportunity to put the ball in the opposition box and give yourself a chance.
"If you are going to get any foothold in the game, or give yourself any kind of chance you need to get the ball in the box. And the way the game is down to ten men, your best opportunity to do that is from a set play."
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Later, ITV cameras captured the intense discussion between Clarke and MacPhee on the sidelines, as reported by the Daily Record.
Ahead of Euro 2024, MacPhee shared his excitement about joining Clarke's squad for Euro 2024, reminiscing about his own experience as a fan back in France 98. He said: "Going to a major tournament with Scotland is a bucket list thing as a supporter, and I went in 1998.
"Me and my friend Grant had earned money throughout the year and bought a car. We had a tent and maybe £2,000 in the glovebox and came back five weeks later! We sailed from Newcastle to Amsterdam and then 'warmed up' in Amsterdam and then drove to Paris, driving round the Champs-Elysees in a right-hand drive Renault 5."
Andrew Robertson and Kenny McLean of Scotland look dejected (Getty Images)Following the result, Graeme Souness branded Scotland's performance “miserable”. The Scots conceded twice in the first 20 minutes and were 3-0 down at half-time, while they also had defender Ryan Porteous sent off before the break.
“My worst fear was Germany getting an early goal,” former Scotland international Souness said on ITV. “Germany, they give you a hard time. We never got started, we never got a foothold, we never had a presence in the game, we gave away a daft goal which was avoidable and the roof caved in.
“The sending-off before half-time compounded all of those problems.
“We were miserable tonight. I can’t really tell you how good this Germany side is because we were that bad – 5-1 suggests they’re a good team, but let’s see how they fair against a really good team as well. I am so disappointed. We let ourselves down badly tonight.”
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