Boston fell for Scotland. Now Scotland have to go win a World Cup game.
The Tartan Army spent two weeks turning a city famous for the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins and the Patriots into a temporary outpost of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Billboards advertising Scottish club ownership. Locals hunting for the pink shirt — it's salmon, for the record. "Born Slippy" echoing down streets full of people who had barely watched a game of football a fortnight ago.
That's what Scotland do at tournaments. The problem, historically, is that the party outlasts the actual football.
Group C is still open
This time, it doesn't have to end that way. Steve Clarke's side still have progression in their own hands heading into the final group stage fixture in Miami, and that's not nothing for a nation that spent the better part of three decades watching the World Cup from their sofas.
For the millennial and Gen Z supporters living through a first World Cup, Boston was everything they'd been promised. Fenway Park packed out. Saltires hanging from hotel windows. Cones on statues. John McGinn's name sung until throats gave out. The atmosphere wasn't manufactured — it was the real thing, and Boston gave it back just as hard.
The break-up was always going to hurt. It always does with Scotland. The question is whether Miami offers something more than a farewell tour.
The Magic City needs a magic result
A night with the Marlins is reportedly lined up — know your audience — but the main event is on the pitch. Clarke's side need something to go right in what the source calls "The Magic City". Enchanting might be one word for what's required. Precise and clinical might be better ones.
Scotland's odds to advance from Group C will tighten or collapse depending on what happens next. One result separates sentiment from history.
They left Boston reluctantly. They arrive in Miami with a job to do.
