IT was just like Belo Horizonte all over again.
An England team, backroom staff, even their head of security Tony Conniford, exchanging long and sustained rounds of applause with their travelling supporters in a show of triumphalist defiance.
Anyone would have thought they had just won the World Cup, rather than scraping a draw against a Scotland team which had been branded ‘just a s**t San Marino’ by those same England fans only 15 minutes earlier.
It was a carbon copy of those scenes at the end of their historically awful 2014 World Cup campaign in Brazil, in which a 0-0 draw in a dead rubber against Costa Rica was marked in similar fashion.
And as a snapshot of the lack of self-awareness in English football, it was pretty damned perfect.
Gary Neville was on TV after the final whistle, claiming Southgate will have been ‘quietly delighted’ with this draw. Really?
What a shocking performance this had been from the Three Lions.
The fact they are blessed with a world-class finisher in captain Harry Kane means they avoided the humiliation of defeat and kept firmly on the road to Moscow.
Southgate rightly praised his team’s strength in adversity, as they recovered from two Leigh Griffiths free-kicks, and kept up their record of not losing a meaningful qualifier for almost ten years.
But anyone who believes they are capable of doing much better than their first-round exit in Brazil is deluding themselves.
The main problem for Southgate is that he is cursed with the least inspiring collection of English central midfielders in living memory.
When Southgate was part of England’s last great team, Terry Venables’ side at Euro 96, they defeated Scotland with Paul Gascoigne performing his impudent majesty.
At Hampden Park, Jake Livermore was wearing Gascoigne’s old England No 8 shirt.
This is hardly Southgate’s fault nor Livermore’s, really.
He is a spirited but limited player, of just about Premier League ability.
But the idea that he might light up a World Cup is unthinkable.
With the injured Jack Wilshere apparently just back from a stag do in Ibiza, there is not one English midfielder capable of even imagining the goals Gazza used to score.
Southgate has few other options. Fabian Delph is a slight upgrade on Livermore.
Eric Dier, who played alongside the West Brom man, is OK as an anchorman, but he is a converted centre-half really, lacking top-class mobility or passing.
The ancient Michael Carrick is still the best of the bunch.
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We spent years debating whether Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard should play together. Now we’re simply crying out for a player even half as good as either of them.
Further forward, England do have quality. But Southgate does not need to make ‘square peg in round holes’ selections like Marcus Rashford on the right wing.
But when you insist on playing the ball out of defence, in tune with Southgate’s admirable principles, it helps if you have a midfield capable of stringing a couple of passes together.
In defence, where Chris Smalling was shaky, Southgate can bring in John Stones.
In goal, where Joe Hart lacks authority, there are several alternatives.
But the gaping black hole at the centre of midfield totally precludes England from playing at the business end of a World Cup.
Two of the central midfielders Southgate would love to promote — Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathaniel Chalobah — are earning millions playing for Chelsea’s reserves.
And that is another snapshot of England’s footballing ills, one which Southgate understands better than most.
For all the moans about England’s dismal display, this was a cracking occasion — if not a quality match.
After the booing of God Save The Queen and the remarkable theory held up here that the bagpipes might be a musical instrument, the old Hampden roar was loud and proud throughout.
When Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain leapt off the bench and opened the scoring, England’s supporters tried to crow at their hosts.
Yet Griffiths struck twice in quick succession — with Hart at fault for the first if not the second — and there was joyous bedlam all about.
England were at least able to prove themselves clear-headed in a crisis — unlike last summer’s defeat against Iceland at the Euros.
And captain Kane’s finish from Raheem Sterling’s excellent deep cross was as cool as you like.
The Tottenham striker had lacked his usual sharpness when presented with a couple of early chances.
After the break England became ragged and disjointed, while Scotland grew in belief.
Their hatchet-man skipper Scott Brown had been booked for an early ‘reducer’ on Dele Alli and should have been sent off for a second yellow at 1-0.
Then the late chaos, as England chucked away victory only to save face at the death.
They stood and applauded their supporters, congratulating themselves for showing uncommon spirit.
But it will take a lot more than guts and willpower to succeed at next summer’s finals in Russia.
They can slap each other on the back, all right.
Passing the football to one another often proves more tricky.
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