Naismith aims to be a world beater

Steven looks to repeat Hampden strike against Spain as Scotland go for broke against Germany

HAMPDEN on a dark, autumnal night and Scotland are struggling to keep pace with the world champions. A ball is whipped over from the right and Steven Naismith stoops to head a goal that sends the Tartan Army into raptures and puts the nation back into the mix in a crucial European Championships qualifier.

Five years down the line, Naismith’s memories of the night Scotland went toe to toe with Spain remain undiminished. Even as the squad licks its wounds after Friday’s damaging defeat to Georgia in Tbilisi, he would love to think something similar might be brewing tomorrow night against Germany — this time with the result in Scotland’s favour.

The Everton forward describes Vicente del Bosque’s Spanish team as the best he has ever encountered and the sight of David Villa and Andres Iniesta easing their side into a comfortable half-time lead only served to reinforce that opinion.

Yet such was the momentum swing in the game that once Naismith had scored, Gerard Pique put through his own net to leave the outcome in the balance until Spanish substitute Fernando Llorente knocked in a late winner.

‘It was a bit surreal to score my goal that night,’ said Naismith. ‘I remember thinking: “Wow, I’ve just scored against the world champions”.

‘They are the best team I’ve ever seen, so it was a great moment and it also got us back into the game at that point.’

There remains regret that having forced the ultimate exponents of tiki-taka to resort to a long-ball game, Craig Levein’s team should go on to lose the match.

Equally, Naismith is stark in his conviction that the night in question can serve as proof that Germany need not be feared tomorrow night.

Having already ran Joachim Low’s 2014 World Cup winners close in Dortmund a year ago, this Scotland team now managed by Gordon Strachan has proved it has scant respect for reputations, even if it remains susceptible to lower-ranked opposition like the Georgians.

If Naismith retains his place, he can be expected to go at them in his well-practised, all-action style.

‘One thing we do well is that we don’t really worry about the opponents,’ said Naismith. ‘Everybody in the squad looks at it the same way. It’s just 11 guys against 11 guys.

‘We know a lot of these teams have far more natural ability and can win games out of nothing — but we play as a team. That’s the way we work and I think that gives us an advantage because we are always covering each other.’

Strachan’s team opened the Euro 2016 campaign with an organised and energetic performance i n Dortmund that promised so much when Ikechi Anya slid the ball beyond Manuel Neuer to equalise Thomas Muller’s opener midway through the second half.

The hope lasted mere minutes as Muller re-established German supremacy at the other end.

‘When Anya’s goal went in, it gave us a real boost,’ said Naismith. ‘It can be hard to find the energy when you are 1-0 down and you don’t see a lot of the ball. But from that goal, we had good possession and a lot of chances. It was a great moment but it was one of many in this campaign.’

Although the Dortmund performance came from a more substantial base than the one-off flourish of Levein’s side in 2010, Naismith rates Spain as the more profound disappointment.

‘That defeat was probably tougher to take as the winning goal came from a long ball,’ he explained. ‘They were arguably the best team in the world at playing but they didn’t carve us open. It was a route-one goal and it was hard to take.’

At the time, Naismith was an aspirant professional, trying to establish himself at international level. At 29, he is now theoretically in the prime of his career and one of Strachan’s most trusted performers.

UEFA’s decision to expand next summer’s Euros to 24 teams heightened the prospects for qualification just at the time Strachan’s team blossomed. With a home victory over Georgia, a draw in Poland and the lion’s share of the points from the double-header with the Republic of Ireland, the qualification process had been going to plan.

Friday’s defeat means Strachan’s hope of actually winning Group D is now in tatters, but Naismith believes this team remains capable of claiming the biggest scalp of all.

‘At that stage of my career, I maybe looked back after games and thought: “Wow, that was Spain”. Now I am playing against world-class players from the top countries in the world every week,’ he added.

‘During my time, we have played some big games at Hampden — Holland and Spain to name a couple.

‘We have come very close to getting a result and we want to progress from that. I don’t think we will look at the game in the sense that anything we get is a bonus.

‘At the start of the campaign, everybody thought Germany would win every game and there would be a fight between everyone else for second. That has not been the case. Germany have dropped points to Ireland and Poland, and we have got to believe that we can do it too.

‘It’s the next big game and one that, if we play the way we can, and take a lot from the game in Dortmund, then we will have a real chance of getting a result.’

Having hosted Georgia at Ibrox and the Irish at Celtic Park due to Hampden’s refurbishment for the Commonwealth Games, tomorrow night marks the return of the big international occasions to the national stadium after a low-key win over Gibraltar in March.

‘There is no doubt playing at Hampden gives us an advantage,’ said Naismith.

‘I’ve not played in too many stadiums with a better atmosphere and it’s been a while since we’ve been able to get this kind of backing so late in a campaign. I’m looking forward to that aspect.

‘This is the first time I’ve met up with the squad and thought: “This is it. It’s crunch time”.’