Trip won’t just sap physical energy if Scots get a doing
IT’S going to be red hot for Scotland in every sense in the Americas but it’s the prospect of being left red-faced that should be a real concern.
Stifling heat and hostile sellout crowds in Lima and Mexico City would be a daunting enough prospect if Alex McLeish had jetted off with a full-strength squad.
The fact he has been hit with half a dozen call-offs makes McLeish’s claim his team are now in “giantkilling” territory an understatement.
Understandably, there were reservations over the trip the moment bungling former SFA chief executive Stewart Regan announced it.
Much of the concern came down to what it would take out of the players with an energysapping 12,000-mile round trip and two games played in testing heat and humidity before the altitude is thrown in.
But what about the mental factor? Amid the controversy surrounding the double-header and the farce with call-offs, there has been little talk of the games themselves.
The Tartan Army were already split over McLeish’s appointment and the last thing he wants is for it to get messy in front of 50,000 fanatical fans in Peru’s Estadio Nacional or the 90,000 sellout crowd in the Azteca Stadium.
The fixture against a depleted Scotland is the only home game for the two World Cup-bound nations and both will want to head off to Russia on the back of convincing wins.
McLeish deserves sympathy for inheriting a trip arranged before he agreed to take charge for a second time.
But if it turns ugly it could be hugely damaging to confidence.
The 77-times capped legend will know from the reaction to the 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica in his first game patience is in short supply.
McLeish admitted after that he’d have to have “rhinoceros skin for this job” before a win in Hungary kept critics quiet a little longer.
He will also know that regardless of the fact these are only friendlies and he has been denied his best players, heavy defeats won’t spare him from criticism.
But more importantly, with competitive action just over three months away in the inaugural UEFA Nations League, the damage to morale could be lasting.
It’s exactly six years since Craig Levein took the national team to Jacksonville only to see them get hammered 5-1 by a Landon Donovaninspired USA.
Two goals down inside 11 minutes in front of a record crowd of 44,438 for a friendly in the state of Florida, the scorching night turned up the heat on Levein.
Scotland had to stew on that result for three months before taking to the field again. And while they did beat Australia in a bounce game, they went their first four World Cup qualifying matches without a win, costing Levein his job.
Given he’s little over three months into his two-year deal, McLeish doesn’t have to worry about such drastic action.
Even so, he won’t want to suffer heavy blows that put him under early pressure.
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He deserves sympathy but if trip turns ugly it could be damaging to confidence