![]() Bar Schick, Andrew Robertson was the best player on the field Jack Hendry hit the bar, Lyndon Dykes twice went close, Ryan Forrest had a strong effort deflected over and Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik did wonderfully to claw an awkward, looping back pass from ending up in the Czech net. Scotland, for their part, were bright and aggressive, the 2-0 defeat an unfair representation of the balance of play. ![]() "If was on his line he'd have caught it, but rather than looking to apportion blame all the time, give credit," Scotland manager Steve Clarke said. Yet nobody, especially not Scotland, could have predicted that moment of magic, a timely reminder that in an era of defending and pressing higher up the pitch, you can still be undone by a more direct approach. He's impressed this term, scoring nine in 29, but all the while proving himself to be a handful and inevitably drawing two defenders in an attempt to nullify his influence. Schick's two goals took the shine off Scotland's return to international tournament play, though few could begrudge the Czechs given the marvel of his two goals. There, he found his rhythm under Julian Nagelsmann and Leipzig wanted to keep him, only for Bayer Leverkusen to sweep in last summer. He instead went to Roma, but had a miserable couple of seasons - scoring just five times in 46 Serie A matches - until RB Leipzig picked him up on loan in 2019. His performances in that first Serie A year led to Juventus deciding to activate his €30m release clause, only to then back out of the deal due to concerns over his medical. Minor issues have stunted his progress over the past five years, reducing his impact after he exploded onto the world football scene with Sampdoria in 2016. The confidence he found to take that incredible goal, first time, was born from the emotional boost of completing a full season without injury. ![]() Schick, only 25 years old, has been one to watch in European football for a while and at the Bundesliga's Bayer Leverkusen, he's living up to his long-mooted potential. "We really haven't see a goal like that from the middle of the field for a long time." The first goal was a cross and header from him, the second goal was something out of this world. We know he's a genius, he knows how to finish and that's why he's there. You could see his genius," quipped Czech manager Jaroslav Silhavy. "It was a nice goal," Schick said in a wonderfully understated way. Marshall back-pedalled, but was unable get a hand on it, ending up a crumpled heap (and social media meme) in the net. A sole cry of 'f- no!' was heard as it arrowed towards the goal.
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