STEVE Clarke has expressed hope that Scotland can cause a major upset when they get Euro 2024 underway against host nation Germany in the opening game of the finals next summer.
The national team were last night drawn to play the four-time World Cup winners and home favourites in the first match of the tournament at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Friday, June 14.
They will face Switzerland in the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne on Wednesday, June 19, and Hungary in the MHPArena in Stuttgart on Sunday, June 24, in their other Group A fixtures.
Asked about taking on Germany in the Euro 2024 curtain raiser after the draw in the Elbphilharmonie here in Hamburg last night, Clarke said: “It should be a good game. Is that enough? You know me, I don’t get too excited or get carried away.
“It should be a good occasion against Germany, the hosts, in the opening game. It’s special to be part of. We have to make sure it’s not about the occasion, it’s about the match.
“We have to make sure we turn up and play as well as we can against them. Sometimes in the opening game of a tournament there can be an upset. Hopefully it will be this time. We’re looking forward to that challenge.”
Clarke added: “I remember almost nothing about the France 98’ game against Brazil (Scotland played the World Cup holders in the opening game of that tournament 25 years ago) because I didn’t get selected to go. I was in the huff so I never watched it!
“For the last four years, we’ve tried to improve game by game. We feel we’re on a path where we’ve done okay. But we also think we can do a bit better. So we’ll work hard and try to be as good as we can be for the tournament next summer.”
