Pitch challenge as Scots begin Euro campaign
Scotland will kick off their Euro 2020 campaign on an artificial pitch after Kazakhstan confirmed the qualifier will be played in Astana. Alex Mcleish’s side start their European Championship campaign in March and face the former Soviet nation in their first game. Kazakhstan have played matches in both Astana and Almaty recently, and have decided to play the game in the Astana Arena. Scotland faced Lithuania on a plastic pitch last year in Vilnius when they eased to a 3-0 romp against the Baltic nation.
It was the first time Scotland had played on an artificial surface in a competitive game and their first game on such a surface since 1983 when they played Canada in a summer tour with three games in North America.
Celtic have twice played in Astana recently in Champions League qualifiers – drawing 1-1 and losing 4-3.
The capacity of the Astana Arena is 30,000 and Tartan Army fans will face a costly doubleheader, with a qualifier in San Marino to follow three days later.
n Paul Lambert enjoyed his first win as Ipswich Town manager yesterday, and hopes the 1-0 victory over Wigan can drive his team forward as they look to climb off the foot of the English Championship. Freddie Sears scored the only goal in the 67th minute as the Tractor Boys picked up their first home win of the season. Although Ipswich are still five points from safety, Lambert knows there is still time to escape the bottom three.
“The first half, I thought we were dominant with the ball,” he said. “We played a good game and never looked under threat really.
“The second half we had to defend strong with the conditions. Deano (Dean Gerken) had a great save.
“We have a hell of a lot of games to go and it’s one win.
“They are playing well, that’s the thing, and the atmosphere in the stadium – I have never experienced a n atmosphere when you are at the bottom of the table.
“This is not normal, the support has been absolutely unbelievable. They are loyal and vocal.
“I had a feeling that our first win was going to be a scrappy one.
“But there’s a long, long way to go and if we can get a little bit of help from somewhere then great and let’s see what happens.”