After more than two decades of absence, Scotland reappears on the international stage with renewed ambitions, which tomorrow in Glasgow will compete with those of the Czech Republic, in a match of Group D of Euro 2020.
The last Scottish appearance in an international tournament dates back at the 1998 World Cup, which ended prematurely, without glory, with a clear defeat (3-0) against Morocco. To go back to the last participation in the final phase of a European, vice versa, the hand of time must go back to 1996, the year of the Czech Republic's debut in continental competition, and in which the Scots challenged the English and were annihilated by a beautiful goal by Paul Gascoigne. If the Czechs have always been present since then, the Scots have duly failed to qualify.
Yet tomorrow in Hampden Park, the hosts appear on the pitch as favorites. And not just because they can count on the support of the home crowd. The last two direct comparisons, played last autumn for the Nations League, ended with a double victory, of measure, just for the Scots, who come back from a streak of five games without defeat (two wins and three draws, including the friendly match against Holland). The coach Clarke, who boasts a past as an assistant to José Mourinho at the time of Chelsea even if in the meantime the relations between the two have definitely cooled down, cannot count on champions of international value, especially in attack. But there are still a fair number of excellent players in the squad, especially on the flanks, starting with the captain, Andy Robertson,Liverpool full-back, with whom he won the Champions League. In the Scottish squad there are also those, the 30-year-old 'colossus' (1.96 tall) of the defense Declan Gallagher, in January 2017 returned to play after serving sixteen months in prison for beating a man to blood with a baseball bat in front of a hotel in Blantyre.
A three-point debut would be the best way to support Tartan Arms' ambitions. "The Czech Republic will create a lot of problems for us - Clarke admits -. But the positive aspect for me is that whoever I play from the first minute, I know I can trust 100%. And as a coach this is the best."
If the best result ever, in a European championship, remains the final reached in 1996, five years ago in France the Czech Republic was defeated in the quarter-finals by Portugal. But there are only three players left from that team, including captain Vladimír Darida. In 21 direct comparisons, to the 11 Scottish victories, the Czech Republic can only oppose eight wins, the last of which however dates back to 2010 (Euro 2012 qualifiers). "Scotland are a tough opponent, physically strong, with a good defensive phase - the analysis of Czech coach Jaroslav Silhavy -. They have determination and are aggressive, above all they restart on the counterattack very quickly. In the last two games against them we have had several scoring that we were unable to exploit.
However, I remind you that in one of the Nations League matches we practically played with team B, since the senior national team, myself included, was in quarantine for Covid cases. Now I think this third attempt could be the lucky one, I count ". A final line on the question of whether or not to kneel before the kick-off:" we will not do it - says Silhavy -, because we are focused exclusively on football and matches "