At the end, Steve Clarke stood at the edge of his technical area for an age, like a man surveying a wreckage – which in a way it was.
Angus Gunn was flat on his back in his own box. Jack Hendry was on his knees near the halfway line. Others were bent over with hands on knees or head in hands.
A few just stood there, motionless. Stunned, sickened, suckered and out of Euro 2024.
The footballing gods have had their fun with Scotland again. This twisted game of theirs never gets old, does it? Never.
We were deeper than deep into added time when the nightmare hit.
Scotland’s desperation was acute. They were playing with what felt like 10 strikers at the time. Gunn had to be told to retreat at one point or else their shape would have been akin to a 0-0-11.
They had a huge penalty shout waved away not long before when Stuart Armstrong was taken out in the box.
Clarke was livid in the aftermath, but some of his comments about the Argentinian referee, Facundo Tello, were cringe-making. Bringing nationality into it was unwise.
The VAR official was Spanish, but there was no condemnatory language about Alejandro Hernandez from Clarke. It was all pretty grisly.