Tartan Army expect Scotland to rise now - and make history at Euro 2024

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We’ve been here before, of course. Metaphorically, if not quite geographically. Even for those not fortunate enough to be on the ground or in the stadium, Stuttgart in the summer of 2024 will already have a familiar feel to it.

Scotland facing a make-or-break encounter in their final group game at a major tournament, with progress to the knock-out stages on the line? Been there, mate. Done that. Came home wearing a T-shirt that cost too much and faded far too quickly in the wash.

As Steve Clarke’s men look to change the narrative surrounding our national team’s performances at major finals, we understand our supporting role. So we’ll invest everything - absolutely everything - in a belief that, this time, things will be different. This time, Scotland will claim a prize still considered priceless by this proud footballing nation.

For Tartan Army regulars of a certain vintage, of course, the battle ‘honours’ earned in far-off corners of foreign fields act as constant checks on our natural optimism. St Etienne, Torino, Neza, Malaga, Villa Park, Norrkoping. Not to mention – TRIGGER WARNING – Argentina ’78 or, four years earlier, our only previous tournament appearance in Germany (West). It is not a short list.

Even those too young to have endured many of the above are cursed with a collective folk memory of past horrors. You didn’t need to be part of the Covid-restricted Hampden crowd at our final Euro 2020 group game against Croatia to fear the worst.

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But what does failure in Frankfurt half a century ago have to do with Andy Robertson? Why should Billy Gilmour be cursed by events that took place long before he was born? Even that loss to the Croats feels a lot less relevant, three years down the line. In a one-off game against a Hungary side yet to pick up a point, why shouldn’t we dare to dream?

The challenge

Win or bust. Ignore everything else you might hear about ifs, buts, maybes and possible permutations. If Scotland beat Hungary, we are all but guaranteed a place in the last 16.

True, if there was a way to finish on four points and STILL be sent home, UEFA would find a way to inflict such a fate on our boys. But a victory will almost certainly secure progress as a third-placed side. And might even get us second spot in Group A, should the Germans batter Switzerland.

The tactics

Can Scott McTominay do what Ilkay Gundogan did to the Hungarians? Because getting a midfielder breaking into the box from a deeper position – something that both McTominay and John McGinn do brilliantly – seems like the most obvious way to inflict damage on Hungary.

Made to look flat-footed and lacking in ambition in their opening loss to Switzerland, Marco Rossi’s men had a few major gaps and flaws exposed by the Germans in midweek. Oh, how awful for them, right?

Photo 1: Gundogan bursting into the box caused chaos as Hungary lost the opener in midweek.

While Clarke might sympathise with his opposite number on that front, he’ll also take encouragement from watching how Gundogan, in particular, managed to go beyond his centre forward at times. Or hold his run to create space for himself when that felt like the better option (see photos 1, 2 and 3).

 

Photo 2: Can McTominay/McGinn go beyond the striker to break Hungary's defensive line? Germany showed how it could be done.

Photo 3: Getting a midfielder to arrive at the right time will expose gaps in Hungary line.

Clarke did a number on the Swiss in Cologne on Wednesday night. Nullified their biggest threats and laid all sorts of clever traps for a team who had looked so impressive in their opening victory. Same again please, Steve. And watch out for that Hungarian counter-attack (see photo 4).

Photo 4: Beware the high line. Hungary are dangerous on the counter, as Germany discovered.

The selection

No messing about. Gilmour’s chest control, touch and pass set up the opener against Switzerland. Get him on the ball as often as possible.

Obviously, Kieran Tierney’s injury is a blow. Scott McKenna – currently without a club – seems set to continue at left centre back, having replaced KT on Wednesday night. And Anthony Ralston, his midweek mistake notwithstanding, is the best right back/right wingback available.

It all seems pretty straightforward. Unless, of course, Clarke decides to play a joker by changing formation. The 3-4-2-1 became his shape of choice, remember, chiefly because it allowed him to get Robertson and Tierney into the same team. But you don’t rip up a plan that actually worked last time out, right?

The emotion

This weekend feels, bizarrely, a lot like the build-up to Scotland’s final group game in the 1998 World Cup. Anyone who was there will attest to the overwhelming shared belief that Morocco would be blown away at the Stade Geoffroy-Richard.

The best-laid plans of the late, great and much-missed Craig Brown went agley, of course. And it took Scotland a long time to recover from that blow, spending decades in the international wilderness.

It’s safe to say that the current head coach is unlikely to get giddy with excitement ahead of this all-or-nothing fixture. He'll also be preaching a degree of restraint among his players. Hoping that cool heads prevail. And leaving the madness to those of us watching in hope, whether that be from the cheap seats, the nearest fan zone or the exquisite discomfort of our own tension-filled homes.

Can our boys do something that no Scotland team ever has? Of course. Will they? Possibly. Probably. OK, definitely. If they get everything right. Come up with the perfect game plan. And execute it down to the smallest detail.

That represents one hell of a challenge. But it shouldn’t be beyond a team proudly representing not merely a nation of five million, or even the tens of millions claiming ‘Scotch’ heritage all over Planet Football, but the lost generations of Tartan Army volunteers - the fathers and grandfathers, mums and aunties no longer with us – who always dreamed of seeing history in the making.

Just because they’re not around to take their place in Stuttgart, or sit beside us on the sofa, doesn’t mean they’re not part of a story that has been decades in the telling. A saga with one glorious chapter just waiting to be written.