PARTY CENTRAL

Two weeks out but Carver discovers Scotland is already buzzing!

- FRASER WILSON

JOHN CARVER was only getting in his daily steps as he took a walk round Glasgow's west end on Wednesday night.

But the buzz he felt oozing out of every pub he passed and every punter he met in the street brought home the reality that Scotland are about to march onto centre stage for one of planet football's greatest shows.

Steve Clarke's assistant took a break from the team hotel to clear his head and meet his daily workout count as the clock ticks down to the Euro 2024 curtain raiser against hosts Germany in Munich.

What he felt was a nation getting in the mood to party.

It's a buzz Carver insists is a world away from that which met the build-up to the last Euros during Covid.

Back then even the team were locked down in a bubble at the Rockcliffe Hall Hotel in County Durham.

This time our Euro stars have relaxed on the golf course, in a darts competition with Scots ace Alan Soutar - and in Carver's case with a daily leisurely stroll around the city.

It's an atmosphere the 59-year-old Geordie insists has everyone in his adopted country buzzing for the show to finally get underway.

Friendlies against Gibraltar and Finland next week are still to come before Clarke is forced to cut two from his 28-man squad.

But Carver reckons in many ways it already feels like the competition is upon us.