Athlone Town · Premier Division · Goalkeeper · #1 · Republic of Ireland · 40 yrs
If we rewind 36 years to 16 June 1990 and the Italian city of Genoa, Stuart McCall was busy scoring to help Scotland secure a 2-1 win over Sweden. The former midfielder jokes that he "was always deadly from a yard out" and ultimately that victory wasn't enough to ensure Scotland progressed to the knock-out stage, but up until this weekend, it was their last win at a World Cup finals. Now the 62 year-old is assistant to Paul Heckingbottom at Preston North End, but he's also enjoying absorbing all the action from the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Precious win gives Steve Clarke’s team a platform but nervy display against Haiti could prove a missed opportunityIt felt so typically Scottish that even rare success on the World Cup stage delivered such paradoxes of emotion and analysis. In Ireland, sporting glory is routinely cherished without contradiction. Scots have far more of a tendency to apply “ah, but” as an addendum. So it proved from Boston to Brora, where dissection of the 1-0 win over Haiti was far from straightforward. Rightly so.Record books will show John McGinn’s scruffy goal earned the Scots just a fifth win at a World Cup finals. The claiming of a point against Morocco on Friday will, barring an extraordinary set of results elsewhere, seal Scotland a knockout berth for the first time. They haven’t even featured at this level since 1998. Any team within touching distance of heady times, rewarding a fantastic supporter base in the process, can hardly be castigated. Continue reading...
Steve Clarke’s team start against Haiti in Foxborough with growing optimism of ending their pattern of failure on the biggest stageIt is not only ghosts from Costa Rica, Peru, Iran or Zaire that haunt Scotland as they prepare for a long-awaited World Cup return. Instead, there is a broader pattern of failure that Steve Clarke and his class of 2026 need to extricate the nation from. From 23 games on football’s biggest stage, the Scots have won only four times. The expansion of the World Cup should assist them, a team who now and correctly regard merely qualifying for major tournaments as insufficient.Scotland were unbeaten in 1974 yet took an early path home from West Germany. More than 50 years later, a comfortable win over Haiti should be enough to seal progression to the last 32. It is impossible to shake the notion that Scotland’s World Cup fate is dependent on game one in Boston against a side who lack nothing in national cause. Haiti’s pace and physicality will cause some tartan tremors. Nonetheless, taking on the 83rd-ranked team in the world with history-making on the line is an appetising deal. Continue reading...
Scotland and Norway were due to contest a training-ground friendly on Monday, but Steve Clarke cancelled one day before the match. The post Scotland branded ‘unprofessional’ and ‘weak’ for cancelling training-ground friendly versus Norway appeared first on SoccerNews.
Scotland branded ‘unprofessional, weak’John McGinn: ‘Our job is to look after Scotland’Scotland’s return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence has been immediately overshadowed by a war of words with Norway. Steve Clarke and Scotland were branded “unprofessional”, “embarrassing” and “weak” by the Norwegians after the cancellation of a training game planned for Monday in Charlotte. After the Scottish FA expressed “surprise” at the Norwegian stance, the Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn told the aggrieved parties to read up on Scotland’s injury situation.With the Scots and Norway both based in North Carolina, a game was scheduled to afford minutes to players requiring them. Scotland postponed the match on Saturday, with the injury sustained by Billy Gilmour during the recent friendly against Curaçao – which put him out of the World Cup – apparently uppermost in Clarke’s thoughts. Continue reading...
Lawrence Shankland says there is a ‘club feel’ in the camp after eight goals in two confidence- building friendly winsScotland arrived at Euro 2024 with more questions than answers swirling around their squad. The team were on a poor run of form, with umpteen players looking jaded. What happened next proved grisly.While the level of Curaçao and Bolivia – plus the motivational levels of the latter – must be acknowledged, a Scottish side notching eight goals in back-to-back friendlies has altered grey areas for Steve Clarke. Scotland’s picture before Saturday’s World Cup opener against Haiti is now a clearer one. This time, they look far from jaded. Continue reading...
Bolivia head coach Oscar Villegas says Scotland taught his young team a lesson in their 4-0 friendly defeat in New Jersey. Steve Clarke's side were four goals to the good by half-time in their final World Cup warm-up game against a side who missed out on the finals after losing a play-off against Iraq.
