Clarke urges fans to put Euro 2020 dream on hold
Scotland boss Steve Clarke has urged the Tartan Army to put Euro 2020 hopes on the backburner in order to help the country battle the coronavirus crisis.
The pandemic has paralysed football both at home and abroad and Clarke was speaking on the day Scotland should have played Israel in their play-off semifinal at what would have been a packed Hampden Park.
The victors will take on the winners of the Serbia versus Norway tie away in the playoff final but Clarke, in a lengthy message to all Scotland supporters, called for the more important issues of public health to be dealt with first and foremost.
He said: “I think most of you, like me, will have woken up this morning, looked at the date and wished the circumstances could have been very different.
“Thursday, March 26th had been circled in my wall planner from the moment I had the honour of becoming Scotland head coach.
“Truth be told, I had hoped we wouldn’t have needed the Nations League play-off route: I believed we could have finished higher than our eventual third place in the Uefa Euro 2020 qualification group.
“All those qualifying games seem far less important now, insignificant even, but this is the reality of the situation we find ourselves in. The world has changed in recent weeks and months and football, rightly, has had to take a step back as our government and our wonderful, brave and selfless NHS staff step up their efforts to tackle a far greater opponent.
“Football is our national sport and its absence has had the same effect on me that it has had for every lover of the game in this country.
“The sooner we all take the advice on board to stay at home, the sooner we can get back to our own normality of midweek nights and weekend afternoons among friends, at our spiritual homes across the country.
“That is for later, as is our match against Israel, whenever the authorities consider it appropriate – and above all, safe – to resume football across the world.
“In the meantime, I will be thinking of you tonight and imagining what might have been and what could yet be. Stay healthy, stay safe, most importantly stay home.”