Marshall: Maybe bit of arrogance We do need to show a and go get the victory
David Marshall, hero of Scotland’s Euros qualification, has backed the call for the country to look to be more arrogant in their pursuit of a place at the World Cup.
The Derby County goalkeeper claimed his place in Tartan Army folklore with the penalty shoot-out save against Serbia that ended the country’s long, long, wait to get back to a major Finals.
Current priority, however, is the bid to also reach the World Cup Finals in Qatar 2022 and tonight’s tie away to Israel.
The campaign kicked off with last Thursday’s 2-2 Hampden draw against Austria, a result which, though respectable enough, prompted Scott Mctominay to cite the need for a bit of arrogance moving forward.
“I can’t argue with that,” said Marshall.
“Scott is at a top club, Manchester United, so he probably carries a bit of that about him.
“He has been in exceptional form for them so he has moved into midfield.
“Scotland have had relative success in qualifying, so it (arrogance) is something we could show a bit more.
“It took us a while to get to grips with the game the other night and as Scotty said, if we’d started with a bit more confidence it would probably have stood us in good stead.
“In terms of Israel, we go there to win the game.
“We have not beaten them in a while, the play-off went to penalties, but we go there to win.
“Although we lost 1-0 last time to them, I thought performance-wise we did OK.
“We were coming off the back of the high of the playoff win. The game straight after (Slovakia) was exceptional because we missed a lot of chances.
“This is the big one now with a World Cup to play for and we have to view it as a real chance for us to get three points.” Scotland’s success in securing a place in the Euros was founded on solid defence and Marshall knows that if Steve Clarke’s men to win tonight he will have to be on top form. Israeli striker Munas Dabbur is out injured for the tie but in Eran Zahavi, of PSV Eindhoven, the opposition possess one of the most prolific goal scorers in international football.
He scored Israel’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw in the Nations League tie between the teams at Hampden last September and, says Marshall, is a player Scotland are well aware of. “Zahavi’s a top player and we’ve done a lot of work on him in the last few months with the amount of times we have played them,” he said.
“That’s the strength of their team, Dabbur, Solomon and Zahavi, we know that, they rely on that.
“It will be no surprise to us on the night. Some new lads have come into the squad, so if they start I am sure we’ll do our homework.”
The 36-year-old was the toast of Scotland for his part in the Euros qualification with his pause for officials to give the thumbs up to his penalty save going viral.
As delighted as he was, he insists that in the days that followed it was pretty much a case of business as usual.
“Somebody asked me that earlier in the week but we had the game then another two games, so it was kind of quiet,” he said.
“Then when you go back to your club down south and with all the Covid stuff it never changed one bit.
“It has been a bit of stop-start season for me at Derby. I had a virus in January and then picked up a niggly injury and I trained a full week before I came here and I feel good now.
“Of course, I do understand the social media side of it.
“It would be different if after the game you could go out or lived in Glasgow and were out and about but nothing changed at all.
“Serbia was an emotional night and everybody went mental, so it was good to see the tweets and the banter from the night.
“And in terms of the penalty save itself and my reaction after, I knew I had to wait for the decision.
“You do not know if your foot is on the line or not. You can never tell.
“I am just glad it never got pulled back again, I don’t think I could have gone through that.”
It is a sentiment with which the whole of Scotland can surely agree.