The end goal is to beat England and avenge that horribly wonderful goal Gazza scored at Wembley in Euro 96 where he flicked it over Colin Hendry and we all know the rest of that sorry tale.
For Scotland to go back to the Euros for the first time since Hendry and co had to cross the border and head into that most foreign of countries to defend the nation’s pride, they first have to overcome Israel on Thursday then one of Serbia or Norway in November.
Then they enter group D of the competition proper where they meet their old nemesis England in one of the opening games of the tournament and absolutely thrash them to high heaven – preferably with Gazza watching in the stands.
-Scotland defeat Israel 5-3 on pens to make play-off finals
Now there’s a few moving parts to this scenario, not least overcoming England – ranked forty-five places ahead of Scotland (fourth in the world) – after overcoming either Norway or Serbia – five and eighteen places ahead of Scotland in the rankings – after overcoming a tricky tie against Israel.
In theory the first part shouldn’t be too bad (he writes with crossed fingers). Scotland are a far more established side than their Mediterranean friends and have players in their squad plying their trade in competitions like the Premier League instead of the Israeli First Division.
However for this article to work theories are having to be thrown out the window.
New perspective
Whilst Scotland are undefeated in their last five matches (won four drew one), the country goes into this play-off tie low on confidence and saddling that all to familiar Scottish pessimism.
Wins over Kazakhstan, Cyprus and a second string Czech Republic side, after nearly the entire first team had to isolate due to a covid outbreak, and an unconvincing 1-1 draw with Israel in the Nations League a month ago, leaves the wily Scots knowing the grass isn’t as green as it seems under manager Steve Clarke.
Coupled to that Scotland’s pretty appalling record in European Championship play-offs, including burdened with the record of biggest defeat – 6-0, led by a Ruud Van Nistelrooy inspired Holland in 2003 – it leaves the Scots quietly patient, waiting to see how this campaign plays out.
But, with the team imploring the country to get behind them, lets flip this on its head and look at it from a different perspective.
Take Israel – ranked ninety-third in the world (forty-four places behind Scotland), the Israeli Premier League ranked twenty-third in UEFA coefficiency (Scotland’s SPL fourteenth), the country has only ever made one World Cup, never qualified for the European Championship (in six attempts), and let’s not go into having to contend with religious wars.
Yet the country finds itself on the cusp of making a major championship under the much improved stewardship of former Chelsea manager Avram Grant. Now those are tough odds.
In respect of that maybe my theory on Scotland avenging past defeats against the auld enemy in major tournaments isn’t that far-fetched.
Scotland v Israel, European Championship, Path C play-off semi-final, Thurs 8th Oct, KO 19:45
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 