Does Scotland threaten to turn glorious failure on its head?

Perhaps Clarke put it best in his post-match media conference: “Crazy game, crazy night.”

It was an experience that began – and equally ended – with a wonderful mixture of emotions.

The elder statesman of the Tartan Army, who had waded in these waters before, was wary.

The trip to Greece, which had already been eliminated and supposedly had nothing to play for, was not as simple as the scenario suggested.

Within seven minutes, it showed.

How Tasos Bakaseta’s goal ended up being the only score of the first half remains puzzling.

The shaken Scots could have faced an insurmountable task or an even 1-1 draw after a stunning first 45 minutes as 42-year-old Craig Gordon looked back on the years with a vintage display.

There was no structure on the night when stagnation would have been sufficient.

The unpredictability of the match in Greece increased in the second half when the sounds of the unusual scenes in Copenhagen came.

Andy Robertson admitted it was “a bit strange” to hear the away fans cheering after their team trailed 3-1 and appeared to be waving goodbye to direct qualification.

The premise of the trip to Piraeus was to avoid defeat, because we can assume top-seeded Denmark will treat Belarus – ranked 103rd in the world rankings – in the same vein as they thrashed them 6-0 last month.

If it had been Scotland, it would have been described as a potential banana peel and would likely have been categorized under the glorious failures mentioned above.

“We had a lucky break,” Clarke told BBC Scotland. “Belarus did us a big favor in Denmark and that gives us everything to play for on Tuesday.

“When it became 3-0, I put some different instructions on the pitch. I won’t tell you what, but it was more with the play-offs in mind.

“Then suddenly we got to 3-1 and realized the other game was the same. So those instructions were reversed and we tried our best to get something out of the game here.”