On behalf of the Tartan Army and a nation of sceptics, an apology to Steve Clarke. And an even bigger one to Grant Hanley.
For a manager who is renowned for an almost pathological aversion to risk, Clarke took an almighty gamble with his Scotland team selection for this opening World Cup qualifier.
Not that his old-school 4-4-f******-2, as Mike Bassett famously said, was particularly gung-ho, though it did include two strikers in the shape of Lyndon Dykes and Che Adams. No, the risk here was that by going back to his old favourites like Hanley and Dykes and leaving out the darlings of the Tartan Army like Billy Gilmour and Ben Gannon-Doak, he would suck the life out of this campaign before it had even got off the ground.
Prior to the game, it certainly sucked some of the enthusiasm from the Scottish fans crammed behind the goal in the Parken, and the many thousands more back home who reacted to the dropping of the team-lines as they might the dropping of a particularly pungent stink bomb.
There is a conspiracy theory popular with Clarke’s detractors that Hanley must be in possession of some incriminating photos of the Scotland boss, but in fairness to the big man, he was absolutely rock solid.
He did exactly what Clarke has always admired him for. He stood tall, he headed it clear, he threw himself in front of shots. Ask him to defend, and little more, and that is what he will do.
There was also consternation at the absence of Gilmour, with memories of how Scotland struggled to retain the ball without him in Munich when they took a pasting from the hosts in the opening game of the European Championships.
There was considerable confoundment over the absence of Gannon-Doak, with justifiable questions over how Scotland could hope to get up the pitch – short of lumping it long to their two physical strikers – when the only man in the squad who could provide width and genuine pace was kicking his heels on the bench.
Clarke has never been one to be swayed by public opinion, but these calls put him at odds with the vast majority of the Tartan Army. It would either be a masterstroke or a disaster, and by ploughing his own path he was placing himself firmly in the crosshairs if it proved to be the latter.
The early signs were worrying. Scotland were coughing the ball up all over the place, and waves of red were flowing towards Angus Gunn’s goal. But slowly, and still a little unsurely, admittedly, the Scots began to warm to the task and grow into the game.
Sure, there were let-offs, with former Motherwell striker Mika Biereth taking his eye off the ball when looking as though he would be in on goal, but all-in-all, the much-maligned Hanley, John Souttar and the lightly raced Gunn looked comfortable and commanding.
What’s more, there were some half chances at the other end too, with Ryan Christie feeling he might have done better on a couple of occasions, particularly when planting a header wide after some good work from John McGinn on the right.
It was far from classic stuff, but Scotland were more than satisfied to get in at the interval level. And they seemed to smell blood at the start of the second.
Twice, McGinn had opportunities in the opening minutes of the half, under-hitting a layoff for Christie and then seeing a shot blocked behind, but these were all encouraging signs. Scott McTominay then tested Kasper Schmeichel for the first time, and the Tartan Army behind that goal were suddenly getting their dander up.
It took a big block though from that man Hanley again to maintain that growing belief though as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg tried to get the Parken going again, after the Scots had succeeded in just dampening the raucous atmosphere that had been the hallmark of the opening half hour or so.
And then, Scotland had their big chance. Brilliant, incisive passing from the brilliant Hickey and McGinn saw Adams scampering in behind, and his first-time ball found Dykes with a clear sight of goal. But he took a touch, hesitated a moment too long, and his effort was blocked. Had he been sharper, and playing a little more regularly at Birmingham, perhaps he would have taken it first time, as he should have.
Hickey had been excellent, but predictably ran out of steam, and there was a heart in mouth moment for replacement Max Johnston when he had barely stepped on the pitch.
The full back handled a long ball under pressure from Biereth and was shown a yellow card for the offence. But German referee Daniel Siebert was called to the pitchside monitor to review the incident, with the VAR suggesting he may have prevented an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
With 40,000-odd Danes screaming in bloodlust, it seemed that Johnston’s fate was sealed, but the official deserves enormous credit for noticing a nudge from Biereth that made the handball an involuntary one, and for refusing to bend to the clamour from a vociferous home crowd.
Instead of the dread of a man going off, there was now a celebration of one coming on, as Gannon-Doak finally emerged on the 83rd minute to great acclaim. He immediately tested Schmeichel, when other players would have settled for a corner, which he eventually earned anyway.
In the end though, the man we all thought might grab the headlines had little time to do so.
Instead, as Scotland kicked off the campaign with a well-earned, hard-fought and potentially priceless point, it was a collective defensive effort, epitomised by the immovable Hanley, that was the story of the evening.
And there was vindication for Clarke.
