FIRST TO FRANCE
Scots’ goal must be to top Group D, insists Anya
IKECHI ANYA l ast night insisted Scotland’s sights should be set on qualifying for France 2016 by winning Group D outright. Gordon Strachan’s side are currently sitting third in the table — just behind Germany on goal difference and a point adrift of surprise leaders Poland.
The Scots’ next competitive assignment is away to fourth-placed Republic of Ireland on June 13, with the Poles and Germans still to come to Hampden later in the year.
A third-placed finish would be good enough to make the play-offs but, buoyed by the displays in the first half of the campaign, the Watford midfielder feels a passage to Paris can yet be clinched by topping the section.
‘Why limit ourselves to that now when that is not necessarily the scenario?’ Anya replied when asked about the prospect of the play-offs.
‘I’d be all right with finishing first. We face these sorts of scenarios when we come to them. We go into every game trying to win.
‘If we are successful, we will finish first. But we’ll face the play-off scenario if it comes to it.’
Anya is today announced as the winner of the St Andrews Old Course Hotel International Player of the Year Award, as voted for by the Scottish Football Writers Association (SFWA).
The player was a virtual unknown when he was first called up by Strachan but is now a mainstay of a side which is well placed to reach a major finals for the first time since 1998.
‘The award totally surprised me,’ Anya said. ‘I got a phone call to tell me that I had won it and obviously I was unbelievably delighted.
‘I’m very honoured that I was considered not only as the winner, but just as a contender because we have had a good year together.
‘Since Gordon Strachan has taken over, we have all just been pushing forward. As much as these awards are nice, it would be the cherry on the top of the cake if we qualify for France.’
Perhaps only then will he be able to reflect on his stunning but ultimately fruitless goal in the 2-1 loss in Germany last September with complete satisfaction.
What a strike it was, though. That dash into space and precision finish in Dortmund is one of his career highlights to date, without question.
He might never need reminding of it but each time Manuel Neuer denies the greatest strikers around, there is always someone willing to give him a nudge or wink.
Predictably, when the Bayern Munich man-mountain’s telescopic leg thwarted Luis Suarez in the Nou Camp on Wednesday, Anya’s phone immediately bleeped into life.
‘A f ew people Tweeted me, saying: “So Ikechi Anya’s better than Suarez”. I favourited it!’ smiled the Watford man.
‘It was a huge moment. It’s not every day you score against the world champions. I’m sure when I retire, I’ll look back on it but I don’t want it to be my highlight.
‘I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve milked it for what it’s worth. Now I need to try to achieve better things.’
He has good reason to consign such fleeting moments of glory to the back-burner for now.
Scotland l ost that opening qualifier but have rallied since to such a degree that the damage has almost been negated.
Starting in Dublin next month, though, the real work starts.
‘We’re adequate,’ Anya replied when asked on the state of the Group D table.
‘We’ve done everything that was expected of us. It is very tightly balanced. I don’t think the Ireland game is a must-win. Obviously, it would be good if we did as it would put a little gap between us.
‘We are just going to go into the game and will try to get the three points. But we’re not thinking that we need to win the game.’
The same surely cannot be said for an Irish side that lies two points behind Strachan’s men.
Victory against Martin O’Neill’s side at Celtic Park in November had a twin dynamic to it.
Scotland were propelled into the driving seat and the Republic were suddenly off the pace. Shaun Maloney’s winner had the air of a defining moment to it.
‘I have been asked what the highlight of my Scotland career so far is,’ Anya continued. ‘For me, it isn’t really about personal things. Although the Germany goal is something that I hold dear to me, the highlight was probably the Ireland game.
‘When we went back to changing room after beati ng t hem, everyone, the whole squad, was so together.
‘We realised the job we had done and how important the result was at t he t i me. Obviously, t he Germany goal is up there but I think success is better when it is shared.’
The clash in Dublin is worthy of all the hyperbole that is coming our way. But given the gap between the end of the domestic season and the June 5 friendly with Qatar that precedes it — five weeks for most English Championship players — it is not without its logistical difficulties.
‘I think I’ll be OK,’ Anya insisted. ‘I spoke to Watford and they gave me a plan.’
The hiatus is scarcely a burden. Now a Premier League player after Watford clinched automatic promotion by finishing second in the Championship, no one needs to remind Anya how recently he was scratching around B teams in Spain seeking a foothold in the professional game.
‘I’ve experienced both sides of football,’ he said. ‘I stepped out of the professional game and, for me, this is always going to be the better choice.
‘ These are once- in- a- lifetime opportunities I’m facing and I’m trying to grab them with both hands. This isn’t a burden at all. This is a blessing.’