Belarus not to be underestimated as Steve Clarke vows not to repeat mistakes of Scotland's 'barren years' for World Cup qualifier
The manager will take charge of his record-breaking 72nd Scotland match on Sunday evening
Steve Clarke simply described the Belarus fixture as a match Scotland ‘have to win’ if they have any qualification ambitions.
Scotland’s weekend opponents may have registered zero points in World Cup Qualifying Group C, but that doesn’t mean Clarke and co will be underestimating them on Sunday night. The Belorussians were just defeated 6-0 by Denmark at home.
From the humiliation in Kazakhstan to the multiple defeats to Georgia, Scotland haven’t always been the best at beating teams they should win comfortably against on paper in recent years. However, under Clarke, they have a very good record of defeating the so-called ‘minnows’.
‘These are the games you have to win’
The Scotland boss, who will eclipse Craig Brown’s managerial record on Sunday, vows not make the same mistakes as the past and isn’t looking beyond the Belarus match. He said: “I emphasise to the players that if they want to qualify, these are the games you have to win.
“You have to give yourself a platform to play against the bigger nations. If you drop points to the teams ranked below you, it makes qualification much more difficult. Over the barren years, that’s where we messed up against opposition that we felt we should be beating.”
If Clarke’s side emerge victorious on Sunday night, there is a possibility if other results go Scotland’s way they could guarantee second place. In the reverse fixture, they defeated Belarus 2-0 thanks to a Che Adams tap-in and an own goal.
A milestone match
Regarding his longevity, Clarke was his usual self-less self. He said: “I would be a bit daft if I didn’t feel proud because obviously I’m the first guy to reach that amount of games. That’s nice for me, a little personal thing. But at the moment, it shouldn’t be about me, it should be about the team and trying to get to a World Cup. That’s what we’re going to focus on.
“My expectation when I started was to be successful with a group of players. The brief was to qualify for tournaments and we have managed to do that twice. We want to do that again because we are all greedy. I looked at the players six years ago and thought: ‘What can we do to improve’? Did I think I would last this long? Probably not.”
He also said that he’s felt compelled to qualifying for a World Cup ever since he failed to do so as a player: “I wanted to go to a World Cup as a player but I didn’t manage to achieve it. I got pretty close in 1990 when I got into the pre-World Cup squad. That hurt. It still hurts a little bit now that I haven’t been to a World Cup with my country. I have a chance to do it now with a fantastic group of players. They want to be the first ones since 1998 to take their country to a World Cup. So hopefully it marries together and we can achieve it.”