The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Hampden roar is vital – the Tartan Army can get Scotland the victory
Former boss Craig Brown urges the crowd to play their part in push for World Cup
Former national team manager Craig Brown insists the famous Hampden roar will be crucial to Scotland’s hopes of beating Ukraine in their World Cup play-off semi-final on Wednesday.
The wait is almost over for the biggest game at Hampden in years as Steve Clarke’s side bid to reach Sunday’s final against Wales in Cardiff.
Brown watched Scotland’s opponents at Hampden last year in Euro 2020 and the former Scotland boss believes the visitors will find the atmosphere very different on their return to Glasgow.
He said: “I watched Ukraine beat Sweden in their last-16 tie at Hampden last summer at Euro 2020.
“They played very well that day and deserved to win in extra-time but what struck me was the crowd. The attendance was 9,221.
“They may have gained experience of playing at Hampden that day but they are in for a rude awakening in terms of how different the atmosphere is going to be on Wednesday.
“The place will be packed with a vociferous and expectant Tartan Army and I cannot stress enough how important our supporters are when we are at home.”
The semi-final was postponed in March due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Brown is curious to see how the delay affects the meeting of the two nations.
He said: “The homebased players in Ukraine have not played competitively since November. There will be a lot of adrenaline in their side.
“They have played good opponents in friendlies this month in Borussia Monchengladbach, Empoli and a team which will be well known to Aberdeen fans in Rijeka of Croatia.
“But there is a big difference between friendly matches and competitive games. For some players, they have not played a competitive game since November. That could work against them or you could make the argument they will be well rested.
“We won’t know the answer to the question of how that will affect the match until Wednesday when it is under way.”
The plight of the people of Ukraine has been keenly felt by the rest of the world but Brown believes, no matter how severe the situation in the visitors’ homeland is at present, Scotland must block it out.
He said: “Everybody is sympathetic to Ukraine and every neutral in Europe will be rooting for them this week. But we’re not neutral. We want to win to get a step closer to competing in Qatar.
“They competed in the World Cup in 2006 and have been in the last three European Championships so we know they are a formidable team.
“Looking at Ukraine they were playing 3-5-2 a year ago. I used it often when I was in charge and it was a fashionable system in the 1990s and early 2000s.
“It does seem to be a formation which is back in vogue. Like most Eastern European countries there is a prestige and credit attached to representing your country and the support from the government is generous.
“They want to do their country proud, more now than ever due to the conflict happening there.”
Brown, who guided Scotland to their last World Cup finals appearance in France in 1998, knows about the threat of the Ukraine players but he believes their key man will be national team boss Oleksandr Petrakov.
The former Dons boss has been impressed by the 64-year-old Ukraine head coach and he believes Wednesday’s big game could go the distance.
He said: “They have some terrific players such as Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Andriy Yarmolenko, who has just been released by West Ham.
“But the most important guy for them is their manager. Petrakov won the under-20 World Cup with Ukraine three years ago
when they beat South Korea in the final.
“People may dismiss it as youth football but winning the World Cup at any age group is a huge achievement.
“He has worked with various age groups in his 10 years with the national association from 16s up to the full national team and his record since taking charge has been very good.
“He is unbeaten in the seven games he has been in charge but five of those games have been draws.
“That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised to see this game go the distance.
“Our manager is unbeaten in his last eight games so clearly the leadership of both teams is of the highest quality.”