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Euro 2020: Scotland men qualify for first major finals in 23 years, Northern Ireland miss out
Image source, Nikola Krstic - SNS Group
Scotland men's team will be playing at their first major tournament in 23 years after beating Serbia 5-4 in penalties to qualify for Euro 2020.
Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall was the hero of the night after saving a penalty from Aleksandar Mitrovic in the shoot-out.
Euro 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic, so will take place in 2021 instead. Northern Ireland were also playing to qualify for the Euros on Thursday, but lost in extra time to Slovakia.
Scotland are now unbeaten in nine games - their best run in 44 years - and will face England, Croatia and the Czech Republic in Group D the Euros. They play England in Wembley on 18 June.
Image source, Getty Images
Manager Steve Clarke said he told his players to "keep believing" after Serbia's late goal threatened their place at Euro 2020, and praised Scotland's "unbelievable character".
It was the team's second dramatic penalty shoot-out in the space of a few weeks. Scotland beat Israel in a penalty shoot-out in October, when they were one step away from qualifying for the Euros.
In fact... Scotland have never missed a penalty shoot-out!
Image source, Getty Images
It's not easy being stuck in lockdown when your nation's football team are in their best form in a generation, but Scottish people still managed to celebrate their victory.
Scotland midfielder Ryan Christie, who scored in the second-half, gave an emotional interview after the win, saying:
"It's just for the whole nation. It's been a horrible year for everyone. We knew that coming into the game. We could give a little something to this country and I hope everyone back home is having a party tonight. Because we deserve it."
Image source, Getty Images
Although Scotland's men haven't been to a major tournament in 23 years, their women have. They played at Euro 2017 and the 2019 Women's World Cup.
Scotland and Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert took to Twitter to say "Honestly will need to apologise to my neighbours in the morning after screaming the house down".
Image source, Getty Images
First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, posted a gif of her celebrating along with lots of Scotland flag emojis and said "massive congratulations to Steve Clarke and the team. What a lift for the country. Well done!"
And Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted "So great to see Scotland going forward to the Euros. Massive well done to the whole team."
Andy Murray shared a video of the penalty shoot-out on Instagram, with the simple caption of "brilliant".
And before the game, his brother Jamie Murray tweeted "In sport we can never control the outcome. Give it everything you've got. Absolutely everything. Walk off the pitch with no regrets. We are right behind you!!"
Image source, Getty Images
Scotland left back and Premier League champion Andy Robertson posted on Twitter too, saying "Struggling to find the words right now, but I hope there is 5 million people smiling back home right now! The lads gave absolutely everything tonight, I could not be prouder of every single one of them! Oh and...... WE ARE GOING TO THE EUROS".