Czech Republic gaffer Jaroslav Silhavy has rubbed salt in Scotland's wounds after snatching Nations League promotion at the death.
Silhavy's side rallied to an unlikely Group B2 victory - aided by a Scots collapse - despite losing home and away to Steve Clarke 's team.
The Czechs campaign was hampered by Covid-19 and they were forced to select an entirely new squad when Scotland visited back in September.
Scotland face Czech Republic in their opening game of Euro 2020 at Hampden in a match that will be their first game in a tournament for 23 years next summer.
And delighted Silhavy has already started the mind games because he reckons they still managed to finish above Clarke's men despite only really playing five matches in the group.
He said: "It's a miracle we won the group when you consider all that we went through in the autumn.
"Basically, we still won this group despite really giving up a match against Scotland. There was a Czech team that played in that match and the guys who played represented us very well, but it wasn't us.
"Our problems started against Slovakia. After all the positive tests, it went crazy.
"But we Czechs, when we get into trouble and everything is against us, we all come together and prove we can do the impossible.
"Winning this group tells you everything you need to know about this team and the character of the players.
"I thank the players, the staff, the backroom staff and the medical team for finding a way to get us through this."
And Silhavy added salt to Scotland 's wounds by admitting he couldn't believe Scotland had lost in Israel.
He said: "When I heard Israel were winning 1-0, I kept looking at the score each minute and expecting Scotland to have equalised.
"Well, that went on for the entire match and it never happened.
"I was very surprised at the full time whistle...and delighted.
"The only disappointing thing for me was that we couldn't celebrate it with our fans.
"But it's brilliant for Czech football to be in the A group against the very best teams in Europe. It's a huge motivation and while we don't think we can compete with the likes of France and Spain now, we will learn a lot by playing against them."
