Germany await as Scots aim to end goal drought
Scotland have a stern baptism today at the European Nations Championships in Amsterdam as they take on Germany, ranked seventh in the world, in their opening pool encounter.
Asked about his chances of taking anything from this initial match, Scotland head coach Gordon Shepherd said: “Yes we can, if we play our best.”
The Scots have been members of Europe’s elite club of top nations for the last four years, but maintaining that status is a relentless struggle.
This was recognised by Shepherd, who said: “Staying in the A division is extremely difficult as every game is very hard. All the teams apart from the Czech Republic are ranked higher than us.
“In our group we have England, who supplied all the players for GB’S gold medal winning team in Rio, we have Germany, who won the bronze in Rio, and Ireland, who are in great form and look like they have qualified for next year’s World Cup.”
Shepherd’s most likely route to safety rests in the subsequent relegation competition – the key here is to take points from Ireland in the pool match, then beat the bottom sides from the other pool, most likely Belgium and the Czech Republic.
That is exactly what Shepherd achieved in the previous two tournaments, seeing off Ireland and Belarus in 2013, then Italy and Poland two years later.
Shepherd’s task has been made even more difficult due to the spate of retirements of experienced international players over the last couple of years, leaving him with a relatively untried squad at this level. However, his youngsters did qualify for round three of the World League for the first time, and finished a creditable ninth after beating Malaysia in their final game.
But concerning for the Scotland coach was the inability to convert chances into goals. Three strikes in five outings is evidence of that failing.
Yet Shepherd’s charges did win the recent three test matches against France, the final build-up for Europe, scoring 12 goals.
Shepherd stated: “We’ll be looking to be competitive in every game we play in Amsterdam.”
It is results, however, that will count.