Statements of Scottish defiance are now rarely heard at major tournaments, yet on the eve of the Euros, captain Andy Robertson declared: “If we perform the way we know we can perform, we believe we can make history.”
It has been 26 years since Scotland played a fixture of such international magnitude. Against Germany, there will be a similarity to when the Tartan Army took on Brazil at the Stade de France in the opening game of the 1998 World Cup. That tournament, like many before, became one of glorious failure for Scotland. A generation on, this team believes they can become the first to progress from a group stage.
Robertson admitted an opening game against the hosts “doesn’t get much tougher”. Germany will be fueled by emotion and a sense of timing, while head coach Julian Nagelsmann issued a rallying cry of his own. “We want to have the country behind us, to push us forward,” he said. A nation expects a victory to send Germany hurtling into a golden summer. It is up to Scotland to stand in their way.
They will do so with the Tartan Army behind them. For the thousands who filled the Marienplatz square in Munich yesterday, Scotland’s first major men’s tournament abroad since 1998 feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For the 26 players in Steve Clarke’s squad, those emotions are only enhanced: the majority will not have faced an occasion like it, and may not do so again. It is the game of their lives.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 14, 2024 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 14, 2024 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Tackling the darker side of England's finest moment
It should have been a night of celebration. As they gathered together at the Dorchester Hotel, Sir Clive Woodward's heroes of 2003 were meant to commemorate a World Cup triumph that still represents the acme of English men’s rugby. But, as Matt Dawson explains, there was a strange atmosphere in the room. As he caught up with his colleagues two decades on from reaching the mountaintop, what became clear was just how many were struggling on the other side.
New generation gather pace amid England inconsistency
Are England good? Consistently inconsistent across the whole of 2024, it is anyone's guess where England's true mean lies. But in a year where they have waved goodbye to Stuart Broad, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson, a new generation has officially emerged.
Ashes to Ashworth: inside the Man U power struggle
Departure of sporting director after five months shows the soap opera at Old Trafford has just got itself a new storyline
Slot downplays the obvious: Liverpool are Europe's best
If Jurgen Klopp turned mantras into catchphrases and viceversa, Arne Slot has a less memorable way with words. Klopp talked of mentality monsters, of turning doubters into believers, of their identity being intensity, of Liverpool 2.0.
EU requires more than just honeyed words from Reeves
Labour keeps talking about 'resetting' our relationship with Europe but then turning down chances to advance, writes James Moore. It's time they actually did something concrete
Understanding the life and tragic death of Sam Cooke
The lingering conspiracies surrounding the soulful Sixties crooner threaten to overshadow a life of music and civil rights activism, writes Mark Beaumont, not to mention a voice that would influence Otis Redding and Tina Turner
BAH. HUMBUG
It may seem Scrooge-like but, as overconsumption runs wild, refusing to buy pointless Christmas presents is more radical political act than cost-cutting exercise, argues Helen Coffey
BATTLE OF THE BEIGE
As one social media star sues another for stealing her clean girl’ aesthetic, Rachel Richardson looks at a legal fight that has the potential to change the landscape of influencers
GCSE English is dying, this is how we bring it back to life
Pearson, one of the three leading exam boards in the UK, has warned that urgent reform at GSCE level is needed. If English (as a subject) is to survive at both A-Level and higher education, it needs to be less pale, male and stale.
The last thing civil servants need is to babysit tech bros
There is a deep irony in a government that has kept making the same sort of mistakes now lecturing its civil servants who have to deal with the consequences) that they should adopt the test-and-learn culture” of the best digital companies and first-class” government projects.
