Scotland Under-21 coach Billy Stark felt his players proved they could handle the big occasion despite their European Championship play-off defeat to Iceland.
Scotland came closest to scoring in the first half of their second leg defeat at Easter Road, but were eventually undone by a wonderful double by Gylfi Sigurdsson which handed Iceland the same 2-1 scoreline they had achieved in the first-leg.
"We came up against a side who are full of quality," Stark said of opponents who beat Germany 4-1 in their group campaign and had 13 full internationals in their squad. "When we analyse the four goals we lost we feel could have closed them down a bit quicker but that was maybe down to tiredness and the effort the players put in."
He added: "My immediate feeling is if we could have got in front, which we deserved, we could maybe have been a bit tighter. But it was a magnificent effort.
"On the night the wee breaks just didn't go for us. But the pleasing thing is the composure we showed, we worked the ball in tight areas.
"We had some players who produced really top performances. They showed they can handle the big stage."
Source: PA
