Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson admitted he was “baffled” by the reaction the Tartan Army’s opening World Cup win over Haiti after defeat to Morocco left their hopes of reaching the last-32 in the balance.
Steve Clarke’s side could have progressed to the knockout stages of the World Cup with a point against Morocco but were unable to recover from Ismael Saibari’s strike after just 70 seconds in Boston.
While Scotland fans celebrated through the night after beating Haiti - for their first World Cup win in 36 years - there was some concern afterwards about the manner of the performance with clashes against Morocco and Brazil to come.
And Ferguson said it shows just how hard it is to win a game at the World Cup with Scotland still requiring a draw, or perhaps a one-goal defeat, if they are to progress from the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
“Given how, how quality a side the Morocco are, it just shows you how difficult it is to win a game at the World Cup,” Ferguson said. “I've seen a lot of negative stuff about us winning against Haiti in the first game and it baffled me to be honest because it's so, so difficult.
“Every team is of a top level and it shows you how hard it is to win games of football at this level. So, delighted with the response [in the second half] but gutted about the result. I think the performance probably deserved a point.”
Ferguson, one of Scotland’s standout performances at the base of midfield at the World Cup, agreed that the defeat felt like an “opportunity missed” after a slow start. Scotland did not threaten Morocco’s goal until late into the second half.
“I think we had the worst possible start,” Ferguson said. “We never wanted to start like that - we didn't touch the ball, to be honest. We gave away such a slack goal, it's really unlike us. But I thought the reaction after that defensively really sound and we just grew into the game, even in the first half.
“I felt we were probably beginning to grow towards the end. Half-time probably came at a bad time for us, but we were growing in the game, we were starting to feel really comfortable. I thought the second half performance there was outstanding, although we've come away with nothing.”
