“I’ve been in this stadium twice and seen Scotland concede 10 and score none. I’m never coming back again, never.”
BBC Scotland pundit and former Scotland forward James McFadden surely won’t be the only one to feel the same way about the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.
He played in the Euro 2004 play-off hiding at the hands of the Dutch, then watched from the stands as Steve Clarke’s side collapsed late on in Friday’s friendly.
With just 12 weeks to go until their Euro 2024 opener against Germany, the giddy excitement of the Tartan Army might have morphed into nervous laughter when Donyell Malen poked in the fourth.
A grim reminder of the challenge of taking on one of the continent’s big dogs, such as the finals’ host nation on 14 June.
This 4-0 rout was harsh on Scotland, but the reality is that they are on a six-game winless run where 18 goals have been shipped.
Captain Andy Robertson admitted “we can’t keep doing this” – and a more favourable run of fixtures should help – but greater tests will lie in wait.
‘If that happens in a tournament, you’re looking at the exit’
Out of the four friendlies Scotland have lined up in the lead up to Germany, this was viewed as the gauge-game for that opener.
For 70-odd minutes, they did not look like a side who lack experience on the big stage against the big teams. Instead, they looked quite the opposite.
They thrived in the orange cauldron, showing control and confidence. But those qualities dissipated after countless chances were missed.
At 1-0, Lawrence Shankland should have equalised when he only had goalkeeper Mark Flakken to beat.
He couldn’t, but the Hearts captain was not subjected to any blame from his team-mates, many of who also squandered their own efforts.
“Lads can miss chances but what we can’t do is open up as what we did,” Robertson said of the late defensive collapse. “That is a collective thing, all of us can change that and sort it out.”
Sort it out they must. It ended at four, but it could have been more as the Dutch were dancing through the non-existent Scots rearguard in the dying stages.
“We’re angry, disappointed and embarrassed,” Robertson added. “A 4-0 defeat, we can’t play as well as that for 60-70 minutes and have that, it can’t happen.
“If that happens in a major tournament, then you’re probably looking at the exit. We have to be smarter than that, shut up shop.
“We let our standards slip and we got punished by a good team.”
‘You can’t dress it up, it’s painful’
Dressing up may prove challenging, but dressing down shouldn’t. The scoreline flattered the Dutch, and head coach Ronald Koeman knows it.
Scotland might have missed many chances, but in makings them there were optimistic signs. Shankland spearheaded attacks with authority. Ryan Christie was problematic, picking up pockets. Billy Gilmour shone in pulling the strings.
Easy things to forget when the freshest memories include John Souttar’s lapse of concentration and Scott McTominay’s mistimed leap.
“There are plenty of positives but straight after the game you tend to forget about those,” said Clarke. “The scoreline is sore, losing 4-0 you can’t really dress it up, it was painful.
“For 70 minutes it was really good then we concede a poor second goal. The biggest difference between the sides was clinical finishing. We created a lot against a good side.
“It is one to go away and digest but not get too emotional. The lads are disappointed with the way the game turned out, I am disappointed with the way the game turned out.”
Disappointed Clarke can be, but not for long. He welcomes Northern Ireland to Hampden on Tuesday in the penultimate home game before the big one on 14 June.
The six game winless-run needs to come to an end, and quickly.
Or, like the positives that arrived early in Amsterdam, the work Scotland done to get to the upcoming major tournament will begin to become a distant memory too.
