THIS IS IT

World media glare a sideshow to Clarke -only focus for Scotland boss is serious business on Allianz Arena pitch tonight

- KEITH JACKSON

STEVE CLARKE opened with a slightly nervously delivered joke but he's never claimed to be a comedian.

The craggy. hangdog expression. The slightly awkward vibes he gives off whenever he's thrust out there into the spotlight.

And it may never have felt more intense than it did yesterday teatime here inside the Allianz Arena as Clarke walked into Bayern Munich's amphitheatre of a press conference room to find the whole world's media glaring back at him.

Asked how his emotions are, now he's arrived in town for the tournament's opening night, Clarke quipped: "Well, first of all, it's quite a busy press conference so it must be a big game!"

It went down like a bit of a lead balloon but then it's not Clarke's area of expertise to come across as some sort of wisecracking entertainer.

Not here and not on this particular stage.

On the contrary, the national boss was almost visibly itching to get out of the room and on to the wide acre of grass, out of the side door and across the concrete concourse where the serious business can be attended to.

And it has never felt quite as intense or as significant as it does right now.

It's taken five years of hard toil and deep thinking to get Scotland into this position.

Yes, Clarke has stumbled once or twice along the way but there's a sense everything has been channelled towards this grand arrival in Bavaria.

The last Euros was only a step towards this one. A Covid-riddled mess of a European Championships, spluttering from the start.