Here Pamplona was in reverse. The fleeing Spanish bulls from Glasgow were chased away by local residents.
It could be a charge that leads Scotland all the way to Germany at next summer’s European Championship after a famous night in which Scott McTominay scored twice.
Plenty for a midfielder, the Manchester United man took his tally to four goals in one hour of international football with his late brace in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Cyprus.
With third seed Norway tied in Georgia at tea time, these back-to-back wins put Steve Clark’s side firmly in control of Group A.
It’s a trip to Oslo next June, by which time Norway will hope Erling Haaland will be available.
Scott McTominay opened the scoring after just seven minutes for his third goal in two matches
The Man United midfielder then hit two goals just after the break to secure fourth place in two matches
Rodri’s side lacked clinical touch in attack and struggled to find their way through the banks of the Scottish defence.
In saying that, he’s not even Manchester’s top scorer at the moment – that tag belongs to McTominay.
As a child, I was an attacking midfielder – I love to get into the penalty area. ‘I have to keep doing that, I know I can add more goals and assists to my game,’ said the 26-year-old amidst a boisterous Hampden Park exuberance.
“Look at this place – I’ve never seen anything like this, unbelievable. This is our chance to create a legacy as Scottish players and these are the nights of 20 or 30 years that people remember. We can’t thank the fans enough,” said the manager.
Clark had told his players to get rid of their underdog mentality against Spain, who were unbeaten in 19 matches in the European qualifiers. It turns out that Scotsmen have more bite when they roam like the best dogs.
And so, for the first time since 2006 when they defeated France, Scotland sank its teeth into what could be considered one of the game’s leading nations, at least in historical terms.
The Spanish team’s newspaper used to be read as the “who’s who” of the best footballers in the world. ‘from?’ It will be more appropriate with this XI.
Only two of his players have more than 20 caps and defender David Garcia, 29, is making his senior debut. He cherishes that cover on that piece of evidence, because it was terrible.
There was also a first start for striker Joselu, three days after he scored twice in his international brace.
Andy Robertson’s team leads Group A in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, after impressing the guests
David Garcia won his first cap for Spain on Tuesday night, but he faced a hot evening in defence
Pedro Borrow pulled back to allow Robertson the cross for the opening goal and fell behind in the first half
The 33-year-old scored those goals in the space of three minutes, which was surprising for followers of the former Newcastle club, given that he scored the same number during his entire last season in 2019.
The point of it all is that Spain is not the old power. In fact, there was nothing strong about them at all here.
McTominay got his first game at seven minutes, which was right in line with the early round of play.
Pedro Burrow looked every inch of the Spurs defender in the moments before the goal, dipping to let Andy Robertson slip through McTominay via a slight deflection.
He should have been over twice soon after when Ryan Christie ran down the middle and the Spanish defenders ran away.
He only had Kipa Arrizabalaga to defeat him but he was stabbed massively. Spain had a chance – Joselu headed against the crossbar – but they barely cornered Scotland’s goal.
And the score felt as good as a safety when McTominay vaporized to hit his second from 10 yards on 51 minutes.
It came after a brilliant rush down the left by Kieran Tierney, and when García could only clear half of the delivery, McTominay pounced.
Until now, Spain was afraid. They wouldn’t fancy coming back here in a hurry.
Next up for Steve Clark’s team is a trip to Norway in June, which drew 1-1 with Georgia on Tuesday
The 26-year-old scored just once for his country before the international break this month
Luis de la Fuente’s side had chances to score during the game but in the end they were daunted
Kieran Tierney lunged left in a prolific run to pick up McTominay and Scotland’s second of the night
