Scot Gemmill rues mistakes as Scotland Under-21s lose to Portugal

Scot Gemmill admitted Scotland Under-21s were punished for a lack of ruthlessness at both ends of the pitch as their hopes of making it to the 2027 European Championship suffered another early blow in a 2-0 defeat by Portugal at Fir Park.

The visitors demonstrated their class and superiority in Motherwell as goals from Porto’s 18-year-old sensation Rodrigo Mora and Roger Fernandes secured a comfortable victory, even though they had £40m West Ham midfielder Matheus Fernandes sent off in the 72nd minute.

Gemmill was heartened by the way his team stood up to the challenge but lamented the soft goals they conceded and the fact Dire Mebude missed a golden chance to equalise just before half-time.

“We knew we were going up against top opposition and we had to try to compete,” said Gemmill. “I felt the game was competitive. We all know that at this level, you have to take your chances.

“Dire is a very good finisher, you probably would have hoped for it to fall to him, so I know he’ll be disappointed he didn’t score.

“And with the shape that we played today, the first goal shouldn’t have happened. We have to get pressure on the ball in that area of the pitch and the players know that, so that was an error and we were punished for it.

“I think the smallest player on the pitch scored with a header. And then the second goal as well, of course, and also the timing of it.

“But I thought in terms of the structure of the team, the shape of the team, just from the coaching perspective and the attitude of the players to try to do what we’d asked, there was a lot of really good stuff against a very good opposition.”

The result means the Scots have started with back-to-back 2-0 defeats against the two top seeds in the group and languish below minnows Gibraltar at the foot of the six-team section.

With matches against Gibraltar at home and Azerbaijan away next month, Gemmill knows his team must get some points on the board.

“I say all the time, I do understand that in the competitive games, we have to make sure that we are competing against the best teams and beating the teams that we’re expected to beat,” he said. “And when we play next month, we will be expected to win and we have to find a way to win.”