CHARLIE CHRISTIE – Scotland displayed quality in Nations League
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Although it has been almost two weeks since the matches, it would be remiss of me not to congratulate Steve Clarke and his Scotland squad on their fantastic achievement of topping their Nations League group and gaining promotion to League A.
I had real doubts prior to the first Ukraine match at Hampden whether we would have enough strength to get the seven points required from our three matches but the performance that evening was one of the finest I have witnessed from Scotland in recent times.
That 90 minutes also gave the squad that added belief that they could achieve top spot and it was fantastic to see them carry that into the Ireland match.
I travelled down for the match and Glasgow was buzzing during the day with both sets of fans mixing and enjoying friendly banter and the atmosphere inside Hampden prior to kick off was superb.
Manager Steve Clarke showed faith in the players who had played so well on the Wednesday, but we struggled first half to trouble the Irish.
However, an early goal in the second half gave the players the impetus to kick on and the award of a late penalty gave us a golden opportunity to achieve the win.
What I hadn’t bargained for was the sight of son Ryan picking the ball up to take the kick and, suffice to say, my nerves were jangling.
Thankfully he had done his homework on the Irish goalkeeper and sent him the wrong way although I’m still not convinced Ryan made the cleanest connection!
So, it was on to Krakow and the showdown with the hugely talented Ukranians who had dismantled Armenia.
Our squad had been decimated by call-offs and further injuries and the starting 11 had many fans and pundits seriously doubting our chances.
Ukraine created two gilt edged chances early on, but we survived those scares and Craig Gordon again proved pivotal as he produced two fantastic second half saves.
We managed to hold on and achieve the draw that meant so much to us.
That point confirmed our promotion – made all the sweeter by the fact that we will leapfrog
relegated England into the top echelons of the tournament.
But just as important was the fact that we can now look forward to being in Pot Two when the European Championship Qualifying draw takes place this Sunday.
With the top two nations from all ten groups gaining automatic qualification to the 2024 finals in
Germany the Pot Two seeding undoubtedly gives us a better chance and let’s hope that Sunday’s draw is favourable to us.
