After 10,000 days of hurt, Scotland are back on football's biggest stage. Steve Clarke is ready to make the most important speech of his managerial life — a speech that a succession of Scotland managers over the last 28 largely painful years would have given anything to make. Game day is upon us here in the United States, and for the Tartan Army, the wait is finally over.
What for so long had seemed like a pipe dream — as attainable as a lottery win — is now a reality facing Scotland in the face. They have missed six World Cups in a row, surrendering to fatalism along the way. But now they face Haiti in their first match on football's biggest stage since 1998. No excuses, says the Standard: Scotland must banish their group stage hoodoo.
“Scotland face Haiti in first World Cup match since 1998; Steve Clarke prepares pivotal team talk after 28-year absence.”
Clarke, who keeps his emotions in check most of the time, can be moving when he wants to be. He showed that in November when he addressed his players before the momentous Denmark game at Hampden — the night that electrified a nation. All of the work is done now: the analysis of Haiti, the match strategy, the mechanisms to cope with the heat and humidity. Clarke probably doesn't need to talk to the soul of these players anymore, because none of them need reminding of what they're playing for.
But that's not to say Clarke won't go there. These players are the lucky ones — the ones chosen to start and the cavalry coming off the bench. The history of Scottish football is loaded with truly great players who never had the privilege of playing at a World Cup. John Greig, Tommy Gemmell, Billy McNeill, Ron Yeats — none got this far. Bobby Murdoch, Jim Baxter, Bertie Auld, Stevie Chalmers — the same. Jimmy Johnstone made a World Cup squad but never played. That list is just a snapshot of the legends who didn't get to do what Clarke's men are about to do. From the more recent crop, there's James McFadden, Scott Brown, Darren Fletcher.
Now it is Clarke's squad who carry that weight. Scott McTominay is ready to go after illness, and the question is whether Lawrence Shankland can finally be the striker Scotland have been waiting for. The match is must-win — the opener that sets the tone for the group. The Tartan Army have waited 28 years for this moment. There are no excuses left.