BURAK AZER GOOD FEELING
Butcher backs fearless Lions to topple the Tartan Army
TURKEY striker Burak Yilmaz has told his team-mates to take full advantage of their support in neighbouring Azerbaijan tonight.
The Turks are expected to be well supported as they look to bounce back after an opening 3-0 defeat in Rome to Italy in Group A.
Yilmaz, 35, said: “I would like to extend my thanks to Azerbaijani citizens.
“They are our friends, they are our brothers.
“The first day we came here they made us feel this.
“In Italy you could tell it was an away game, from the entrance to the stadium to the exit.
“But this is a host city for us because the Azerbaijani people are with us.”
Yilmaz scored 16 top-flight goals for his French club Lille as they beat Paris St-germain and Monaco to the Ligue 1 title.
Now he is targeting glory with his national team but he admits their opening loss was a big blow for boss
Senol Gunes (inset) and his squad.
“For two days following the game we were very fragile and broken,” he added.
“The coach had meetings with us and supported us. After Wales and Switzerland drew we started to feel better and back to normal. “We were really tired and negative after the game but we still cling to the group.
“If we win this game it will be reversed and I am very confident about our nation.
“We still have this target and belief. “Yes, we weren’t expecting that first result but we will show who we are and our character.
“The formula is clear – get the six points and we qualify from this group.”
GREATNESS, as Terry Butcher will testify, is not defined by a shirt soaked in blood or a head swathed in bandages.
As England prepare for their Euro 2020 Wembley reunion with Scotland, the legend who once spilled more ketchup for his country than a character in a Quentin Tarantino movie says they must seize their chance to become “immortals”.
In club football, Butcher was a winner on both sides of the Auld Enemy divide – a defensive rock in Sir Bobby Robson’s UEFA Cup-winning Ipswich team 40 years ago and a three-time champion with Rangers.
But the lionheart who finished a World Cup qualifier against Sweden in 1989 with his head bandaged and white shirt plastered in his own claret believes England’s class of 2021 are at the gates of history.
As he was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame, Butcher, who won 77 caps, said: “I was lucky enough to play at three World Cups and captain England in a World Cup semi-final.
“If I could give this group of players one nugget of advice, it would be, ‘Go out and make history, create some memories to tell the grandchildren.’
“And don’t settle for being remembered as very good if you can be immortal – because the next England team to win a major tournament will be immortals.
“These players do not appear to be burdened by fear – England teams in the past have found that pressure a cross to bear, but I loved their tempo, the way they got at Croatia from the start.
“Scotland know that even they manage to keep Harry Kane quiet, they will still have to find a way to subdue Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Mason Mount.
“It will be a bit different this year because of the crowd restrictions but I always loved England-scotland games more than any other fixture.
“The noise and the passion used to give you goosebumps.
“I didn’t like it when the Tartan Army took over both ends at Wembley because that was our kingdom, our domain, but I only lost once in six games against them, so they often went home disappointed, which is how I liked it.”
Butcher does not mind being reminded of his gory appearance in Sweden 32 years ago – mainly because he does not regard it as a defining moment of his career.
He said: “It was just something that happened in a football match. It was much more serious after I broke my nose at Luton in an FA Cup tie in 1982 and I ended up in hospital for five weeks.
“After an abundance of transfusions and two operations I was transferred to the London Hospital, where the Elephant Man lived, which was quite appropriate.
“When people talk about the blood on my shirt in Stockholm, it was just a scratch.
“We raised a lot of money for charity by auctioning one of the shirts I wore that night – the other, would you believe, I’ve loaned to the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Park.
“I’m not sure they will think much of it if we beat them on Friday, but it’s still an England captain’s bloodied shirt.”
The National Football Museum has just unveiled its English Hall of Fame exhibition, showcasing the stories of male and female Hall of Famers and memorabilia from their careers. For opening times and to book tickets, go to www. national football museum
.com