RYAN CHRISTIE breathed a sigh of relief as Scotland’s goal drought broke at last.
Christie’s strike just before the hour spared Steve Clarke’s men from suffering one of the biggest embarrassments in their history, on a night when they blew chance after chance.
The Bournemouth star said: “I’m not really worried about us missing chances. We didn’t have trouble finding the net in the qualifiers and here’s hoping we’re saving the goals for Germany.
“It will be a different game there. Hopefully they will be more open, which will suit us.
“We’ve now got Finland at Hampden, with conditions that suit us better. So we’ll look to put in a good performance that sends us on our way with a few more goals under our belt.
“Right across football, not just with us, it’s easier to raise your game when there’s something to play for.
“International friendlies are always a weird kind of feeling, they are like pre-season games right in the middle of all the competitive football.
“But when you’re playing for something, for your supporters, it’s totally different — it lifts everything.
“Yet there’s still a bit of relief that we got the job done in the end here.
“We had to be patient because Gibraltar played a low block, the same way Northern Ireland did in our last game.
“The pitch was also really slow, there was no water on it at all, and it’s hard to explain how much of a leveller that is, and how little pace you can put into your game.
“But we should have scored a few more, we’d have liked to be a couple ahead by half-time.
“I got the first one eventually, though, then Che Adams got an absolute cracker.
“We’re definitely going into the Finland game a lot happier.”
Christie, 29, admitted the final stages of the club season dragged by as he counted the days before meeting up with his international muckers on the road to Germany.
He added: “It’s great now that we’ve met up and it’s all just around the corner.
“For the last few weeks with your club you’re trying not to think about it, but it’s difficult when there’s so much to look forward to.
“There’s no doubt you’re scared of getting injured.
“So it’s nice to be here, to feel the buzz properly building up and trying to grow momentum.
“Being based in Glasgow, in the camp every day, speaking to you guys, talking to family and friends about their plans for going over, it all makes it feel so real.
“There are so many requests for tickets, you’re inundated.
“I’ve got so many friends and family going and you feed off their excitement.”
Meanwhile, debutant Ross McCrorie was bursting with pride, after a night that might just put him in the frame to start against Germany in Munich next Friday.
The Bristol City right-back was one of many who missed chances to make the victory in Faro far more convincing.
But he was defensively strong against a side who, admittedly, didn’t offer much in attack.
McCrorie, 26, said: “It felt really good, brilliant. It’s a proud moment for me and my family.
“For any footballer, making your international debut is the pinnacle of your career.
“There were nerves there at the start, but you’ve got to relish these opportunities.
“You want to play in all the big games, you want to play for your national team.
“So, for me, after the season I had with injury right back at the start, it just felt like all that hard work had come to fruition.
“Now there’s a massive opportunity, although it’s never nice to see injuries, especially to boys who were at such a top level in qualifying.
“But I’m grateful to the gaffer for keeping an eye on me down at Bristol since I’ve been back, and he’s had enough belief to pick me.
“I felt good out there, I felt comfortable. There wasn’t too much happening in the game and it was obviously a sticky pitch. But we got the result and we’ll take the confidence into the next game.
“I’ll never forget this night, but now I really want to kick on from here.
“If you look at Tony Ralston, who also wants this shirt, we’ve come right through the youth groups together, we’re really good friends and we’ll push each other all the way.
“We all have to be going in the same direction now. The competition for places is brilliant and it can only be good for us.
“We’ve got some top-class players and none of us can wait to get over there.”
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