WE CAN LIFT THE NATION
Brown believes Scots will lead national game out of the wilderness
SCOTT BROWN believes Scotland can lift the national game from its knees by reaching next summer’s Euro Finals in France.
The Scots face a must-win match in Georgia tonight, when victory would add a charge to Monday night’s clash with world champions Germany and mark a huge step towards ending the country’s 18 years in the international wilderness.
Celtic captain Brown believes qualification for a first major tournament since France ’98 would also go a long way towards alleviating a crisis in confidence caused by savage setbacks for the domestic game on and off the pitch. ‘The game has been through hard times and we need to pick i t up somehow,’ said Brown.
‘So if we could reach the Euros and then aim for the World Cup two years after that, if that helps it would be great. ‘ We need people to believe i n Scotland again.’ Challenging Germany
and Poland for two automatic qualification places, victory tonight would strengthen the chances of a third-place play-off and a qualification safety net. The Republic of Ireland are desperately hoping for a repeat of 2007 when a Scots side cruising towards Euro 2008 blew it in Tbilisi. However, ahead of a return to the 52,000 Boris Paichadze Stadium tonight, Brown insists the Scottish players harbour no concerns over a potential banana skin. ‘It’s not a case of thinking about blowing it,’ he said. ‘We’ve still got a few games
to go and qualifications is up for grabs. ‘We’re a squad who really enjoy training and playing under a gaffer who is so enthusiastic it’s unreal, so we need to take that into every game. ‘Of course it would be agonising if we didn’t make it, but that’s thinking about the negatives and we need to think positive. ‘We hear so many people being negative about Scottish football in general, especially over the last couple of weeks with European results and whatever, so we need to believe in ourselves more than ever. ‘People are always looking for the banana skin. But it’s our job to think different, to get the rest of the country believing in us and in the Scottish game. ‘Gordon’s done a great job in that respect. He has been incredible with us, with everyone.’ Brown suffered a setback at club level when Celtic failed to overcome Malmo to reach the Champions League group stage. ‘It’s a good thing for me to be here so soon after Malmo because it spurs you on,’ said the Parkhead skipper. ‘It’s a different occasion in a lot of ways — but the same one for me, really. ‘The Champions League is behind us now, this is a different team, different competition, different bunch of boys. But, of course, what happened last week drives you on. ‘Now we’ve got the chance to take Scotland to the Euros, we’re playing the world champions after this and there’s so much to look forward to.’ Brown has recovered from a weekend injury scare and will lead the Scots out in a city where temperatures will touch 32 degrees centigrade. Boss Strachan has urged his players to slow down their normal tempo in the anticipated heat. Brown added: ‘It doesn’t have to be attack, attack, attack. We have to keep control of the game and keep possession as well. ‘The gaffer understands that we’re going to get tired during games. ‘You can’t keep sprinting around at 120mph for the whole 90 minutes, so he understands you need to get your rest. You can’t play all the time at high tempo. ‘Sometimes they will have the ball and, as long as we defend and make it hard for them and stay in our shape, we should be OK. ‘We believe we can score goals no matter if it’s away from home against the world champions or against Georgia. We have some great players and attacking-minded players as well, so that helps.’