CLARKE STRIKES NOTE OF CAUTION
Scots avoid big guns... but manager believes danger lurks in Group F
HAILED as Euro stars on a thrilling night in Serbia last month, the fates last night shone kind lyon Scotland’ s hopes of being acclaimed as Qatar heroes.
As Steve Clarke aims to steer the country to its first World Cup since France 1998, the obstacles blocking the road to the competition’s first- ever winter tournament are not as daunting as they could otherwise have been.
From Pot A, Denmark may be a fine side with a world-class talisman in Christian Eriksen but they are not at the same level of Belgium, France or Spain.
Likewise, in drawing Austria from Pot B, Scotland avoided stronger teams such as deadly Robert Lewandowski’s Poland or fellow FIFA top-20 nations Switzerland and Sweden.
Indeed, in a draw also featuring old foes the Faroe Islands and Moldova, perhaps the only real negative was the Scots drawing Israel from the fourth pot, having played them five times since October 2018.
After reaching Euro 2020, which will end a 23-year wait to grace a finals, with that penalty shootout win in Belgrade, Clarke (below) has no problem with the Tartan Army dreaming of Scotland topping the table and heading for Qatar.
However, ever the realist, the head coach knows it is still a draw fraught with peril and that every single rival needs to be held in the very highest regard.
‘We have to be happy with the draw, but be very, very wary that it can be a dangerous draw as well,’ said Clarke. ‘But if the Tartan Army want to get excited that’s great.
‘Outside, people can get as excited as they want. They can think we are going to beat everybody and we will finish up with however many points it takes to qualify.
‘But inside the camp we will treat everybody with the same respect.
‘We will work as hard as we can and try and get as many points as possible. And, if that’s enough for us to qualify for Qatar 2022, then that will be fantastic. But we won’t be getting carried away as a group.
‘If the supporters are positive — and, hopefully, by the time we get to March, we will have a few supporters inside the stadium with us — then that will be great.
‘ It’s maybe a little bit too optimistic to expect them to be able to travel to the away games. But it would be great to think they will all have a good feeling about the national team and feel positive that we can get results.
‘I think the expectation is high because of the teams we have drawn, sure. But it’s also because we’ve done quite well recently.
‘We lost our last two games (to Slovakia and Israel in the Nations League) but the performances in our last six games have been decent and because of that everyone is in a better state of mind about the international team. ‘That’s great for everybody. It hasn’t always been like that, even in my short reign as the Scotland head coach.’
Watching the draw, Clarke was praying to be in a six-team group to avoid the need to arrange friendlies to fill any holes in the three-game international windows. Once he got his wish, there was only one group he was desperate to avoid; England — whom
Scotland face in Euro 2020 — alongside Poland in Group I.
However, with Scotland being no stranger to historical slip- ups against the Faroe Islands and Moldova, the former Kilmarnock and West Brom boss feels it wrong to describe avoiding the likes of France and Spain as a bullet dodged.
‘England and Poland would have given us a really tough group,’ he said. ‘England are a strong team. They are always one of the top seeds and their qualification record is second to none.
‘Poland are also a strong team. They were probably the best team in Pot B, with the possible exception of Switzerland.
‘So I think that was a good one to miss out of the six-team groups.
‘But I was looking at the other groups and thinking: “Yeah, we would have a competitive chance in any of them”.
‘So I don’t think we dodged a bullet. Probably not because I think Denmark and Austria are going to be really tough opponents and we already know that Israel will be, too, because they beat us the last time we played. So we shouldn’t be getting too carried away.
‘I think the four top teams in our group are all capable of taking points off each other. That’s my overriding feeling.
‘But I know that, being Scotland, Faroe Islands and Moldova are the types of teams that historically we do trip up against. So we will have to be really careful.’
For Clarke, the buzz of Scotland’s historic success over Serbia has long faded as those back-to-back defeats to Slovakia and Israel closed off the Nations League play-off route to Qatar.
But he believes that penalty shootout triumph can help the nation believe it can also grace a World Cup.
A strong start to the qualifying campaign would also give the Scots much-needed momentum to take into a Euro 2020 finals which see them face the Czech Republic and Croatia on home soil either side of a trip to face England at Wembley.
‘After Serbia, I just came back home and spent time with my family,’ said Clarke. ‘I haven’t really thought about it too much. I’ve got to be honest, I finished the international week disappointed because we lost the last two games but that’s just the life of a football manager.
‘I’m pleased that I’ve got some things to keep me busy over January and February in terms of organisation for the summer.
‘That will free me up to concentrate on the World Cup qualifiers in March and, after that, maybe when we get to April and May, I’ll get the buzz and the excitement again.
‘Maybe I’ll realise then just what we have achieved as a group of players. But it’s really important we get off to a good start in the World Cup campaign as that should give us good momentum going into the Euros.’