Clarke happy with ‘tough’ Uefa Nations League draw
Scotland boss Steve Clarke expects a stern examination from Croatia, Portugal and Poland after the national team discovered their group for their maiden campaign in the Uefa Nations League Group A.
Scotland have been placed in Pool A1 with the Croats, the Portuguese and the Poles. The first matches will be played after Euro 2024 in September, with the top two in the group advancing to the quarter-finals, the team finishing bottom automatically relegated to League B and the third-placed team facing a play-off to preserve their status as a League A nation. The competition also acts as a play-off route to the World Cup in 2026.
Reacting to the draw yesterday evening in Paris, Clarke said: “It’s a tough one – but we knew that anyway. It’s our first time in the top group and we expected difficult opponents. That’s what we’ ve got and that’ s we wanted. I’m a believer if you want to improve, you’ve got to play the best teams.”
Scotland could be up against veteran trio Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski. Their respective international futures are likely to be decided after this summer’s European Championship and Clarke hopes to come up against them. “Hopefully they keep going because I like my players to play against the best players,” he told the BBC. “Hopefully the three all turn up.”
The league phase will be played between September and October before League A quarter-finals and promotion/relegation play-offs take place in March 2025. Single-leg semis and a final will be played in June 2025. The fixtures for the Nations League will be announced in due course.
Well, it could have been a lot worse. Alternatively, if glamour and box office value are the only considerations, it might have been a lot better.
It could have been France, Portugal and Spain. What it has turned out to be is Croatia, Portugal and Poland. Scotland’s group for their debut in League A of the Nations League doesn’t look completely unnavigable.
There is glamour in the obvious form of Cristiano Ronaldo, whoattheageof39has205caps and counting. He’s ably supported in the glamour stakes by Luka Modric, the elegant midfield statesman for Croatia and Robert Lewandowski, Poland’s master goalscorer. All are in their mid to late 30s.
Group of Death? Maybe not. It is, though, a Group of Football Heritage. Of course, it is entirely possiblethatone,twoandmaybe even all three of these icons might have retired by the time thefourtheditionofthenations League kicks off in September, following Euro 2024.
Scotlandhavetheirownheritage. Goalkeeper Craig Gordon, at 41, will be the oldest player in the tournament if selected.
He has just signed a new oneyear contract at Hearts and isn’t looking like stopping anytime soon.
If nothing else, Croatia's presence in Group A1 means Steve Clarke and Scotland have the opportunity for some fairly swift revenge. With Modric to the fore, Croatia knocked Clarke’s side out of Euro 2020 with a 3-1 win in the final group game at Hampden.
Scotland haven't beaten Portugal since 1980, long before Ronaldo was born. Poland, meanwhile, could give Scotland a fighting chance of avoidingbottomplaceandautomatic relegation.thirdplacemeansa play-off with a runner-up from the B set-up while a top two finish would take Scotland into an inaugural quarter-final stage next spring.
Considering 54 teams were being drawn, the ceremony itself was mercifully brief once the real business got going. There was the usual preamble, including the premiere of a new Nations League anthem which was the obligatory slice of Euro pop with swirling violins.clarkecantakeorleavethe schmaltz but he and SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell will be happy with the match-ups on this pre-valentine’s Day trip to Paris.