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EURO 2020: Scotland eliminated by Luka Modric and Croatia

Unfortunately for Scotland and its loyal supporters, the tournament came to an end in front of 9,896 fans at Hampden Park in Glasgow, losing 3-1 to Croatia on Tuesday

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Playing two of its three group games at home, optimism was high for Scotland and the Tartan Army heading into Euro 2020.

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Unfortunately for Scotland and its loyal supporters, the tournament came to an end in front of 9,896 fans at Hampden Park in Glasgow, losing 3-1 to Croatia on Tuesday.

Luka Modric scored the winning goal in the 62nd minute, bending a shot with the outside of his right foot shot into the top corner of the net past goalkeeper David Marshall. Ivan Perisic added a third on a header in the 77th minute to hammer the final nail in the Scots’ coffin.

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“I think in the end they were a little bit too much for us,” said Scotland midfielder Callum McGregor, who scored to tie the game in the 42nd minute. “You saw the goal. Modric’s goal with the outside of his foot, puts it in the top corner. That’s what you’re up against at this level, so it’s a tough lesson.”

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Scotland and Croatia both needed to win the game to have any chance of advancing into the next round. Croatia finished second in Group D, behind England, based on goal difference.

Scotland has never advanced past the group stage at any major international tournament.

Nikola Vlasic put Croatia up 1-0 in the 17th minute finishing off a ball headed down to him by Perisic.

McGregor tied it with a rocket from the top of the penalty area past goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. The goal gave Scotland hope, but Croatia, the World Cup finalists three years ago, stepped up a gear and took control in the second half.

“It’s always nice to score and get my first goal for my country, which is a proud moment,” McGregor said. “But the outcome was disappointing, it wasn’t the result we wanted.”

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GROUP OF DEATH UP NEXT

Group F, this tournament’s Group of Death, will be decided Wednesday with Portugal facing France in Budapest and Germany hosting Hungary in Munich, simultaneously.

France is in the driver’s seat heading into the final two games, but things could shift drastically depending on results.

Portugal and Germany each have three points from its first two games and need a result to advance, while Hungary has to win to move on.

“We can only worry about ourselves, that’s the main thing,” Portugal defender Pepe said. “We know it’s going to be a tough match against France, and we’re going to try and do our best in order to live up to everybody’s expectations and achieve our goal, which is to progress to the next stage.”

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Portugal started well, defeating Hungary 3-0 in its opening match with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two goals. Portugal then lost to Germany 4-2, which has the defending Euro champions on the brink of elimination.

“The last match wasn’t great, that’s true, but tomorrow we have a chance to prove out doubters wrong,” Pepe said. “We’re going to be very focused and we need to play at our best level in order to progress.”

France won its opening game 1-0 against Germany, then were held to a 1-1 draw against Hungary. The defending World Cup champions need a result to win the group.

“It really doesn’t matter if we finish first, second or third in the group,” France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said. “If we want to get to the final we have to overcome all challenges in the knockout round, we can’t just calculate our results in the group stage. I think we have to go into this match to win.

“We want to keep our playing well and keep our confidence high going into the next round.”

Email: dvandiest@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest

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