Spain players blame ‘long grass’ at Hampden Park after Scotland defeat

Scott McTominay scored twice to secure Scotland’s win over Spain (Shutterstock)

Spain’s players were unhappy with the state of the pitch at Hampden Park following their 2-0 defeat to Scotland on Tuesday evening.

A rare double from Scott McTominay sealed the victory for Steve Clarke’s side in their second Euro 2024 qualifier.

Scotland now sit top of Group A following their two wins, with Spain second in the table after their surprise defeat.

Spain did have chances in the match with Joselu coming close in the first half with a header which hit the bar.

But Spain’s players felt the ‘long grass’ at Hampden Park hindered their playing style.

When asked about the pitch after the game, Spain centre-back David Garcia told Teledeporte: ‘We already saw that the grass was too long and that it was difficult.

‘We can’t make excuses for that, we have to look at ourselves and correct what we did wrong today.’

Spain’s players were unhappy with the pitch at Hampden Park (Shutterstock)

Meanwhile, Manchester City midfielder Rodri insisted that the pitch was ‘no excuse’ for Spain’s defeat.

‘They played a good game,’ Rodri said.

‘The grass is no excuse, they have their conditions.

‘The first goal has conditioned us a lot. They played with five behind, tightly closed. We had chances, but the ball didn’t go in.’

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Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos said: ‘It’s a bittersweet taste, I’m happy to start the game but I think the defeat is very painful for us.

‘We had a clear starting plan, to dominate the game but the ball was rolling very slowly and they found themselves with a very quickly.’

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