ICE & QUEASY
MEXICO v SCOTLAND
ALEX McLEISH admits Scotland will be feeling the heat in the Azteca tonight – and the last thing they’ll do is cool down with ice.
McLeish remains haunted by his decision to have a chilled glass of Coke at the Mexico World Cup finals in 1986, which cost him his place in the team and led to a five-month fallout with Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Scots arrived in Mexico City last night ahead of their first game against the central Americans at the fabled Azteca Stadium, a 73,000 sellout as the locals bid a fond farewell to their team as it departs for the World Cup finals in Russia.
McLeish touched down from Lima with his threadbare squad of 20 players, including three keepers, and walked out to an altitude of 7200 feet and temperatures of 35 degrees, a far cry from their sea-level performance in 20 degrees four days previously as they lost 2-0 in Peru.
It was the first visit of McLeish to the country on business since he was a lion-hearted centre-half for Scotland desperate to create a slice of history for the nation on the world stage under interim boss Ferguson and Walter Smith following the death of Jock Stein.
However, his plans were thwarted after he had a dodgy drink following the opening 1-0 defeat to Denmark and was replaced by David Narey for the 2-1 defeat by Germany and the goalless draw against Uruguay that ultimately did for our qualification chances.
McLeish said: “I played in the first game against Denmark and then took ill after drinking some ice in my Coca-Cola.
“Alex Ferguson did a fitness test for the Germany game and I had some breathlessness. It was on the morning of the game and I was absolutely gasping and I said, ‘No boss, there’s no way I can play tonight’. BY GARY RALSTON in Mexico on and dismantle us. The Coca-Cola was the culprit. Maybe it was from their tap water to make the ice.
“Their bellies are used to it, ours aren’t. We have obviously told the players here to avoid ice.
“Fergie didn’t select me for the Uruguay game when I was fit again. He said he didn’t think Davie Narey had done anything wrong against the Germans which I wasn’t too chuffed with.
“I fell out with the boss and on the way back home I kinda gave him the cold shoulder – five months later he left for Manchester United anyway.
“I actually told the team in meeting the other day, ‘Look, the performance guys have told you what to expect and I can give you actual evidence of what happened to me. Just be careful’.”
McLeish may take comfort from the fact his team worked so hard to largely hold their own against Peru who at world No.11 are ranked four places higher than the Mexicans.
These farewell matches have become something of a tradition for the Mexicans since 1994 – they’ve qualified for every World Cup finals since then.
However, the Scots may be cheered by the stats that suggest the Mexicans rarely humble their opponents on these occasions, although they did defeat Israel 3-0 in their farewell match four years ago for Brazil.
They have enjoyed five single-goal victories since 1994 in these games against sides such as Ajax, Colombia, Congo and Chile and also drew 1-1