THE seismic ramifications of Scotland’s draw with Ukraine in Poland on Tuesday evening means there is now much for Steve Clarke, his players and their supporters to look forward to in the seasons to come.
The national team have been promoted to the A League of the Nations League after topping Group B1 and will join international behemoths such as Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain in the upper tier in two years’ time.
Before that, they have to qualify for the Euro 2024 finals in Germany. But their prospects of doing so have improved significantly as a consequence of the result in Krakow.
They will be in Pot Two when the draw for the qualifying stages of that competition is made in Frankfurt on Sunday week and they have a play-off place to fall back on if things do not go according to plan.
For the time being, though, Clarke has more immediate concerns.
“The games are a way off,” he said yesterday as he reflected on what was a tumultuous international break. “My immediate thoughts are to catch up with some sleep. It’s been a tough 10 days.”
Clarke can dare to dream when he has recovered.
He hugged his former Chelsea and Scotland team mate Pat Nevin in the bowels of the Cracovia Stadium – the ex-winger was working as a co-commentator at the game for BBC Radio 5 Live – after his post-match press conference and then spoke enthusiastically about securing a higher seeding.
It is perhaps the most significant outcome of the successful Nations League campaign. The national side will now not have to face England, France or the Czech Republic and they might come up against Albania, Armenia or Montenegro.
There are no easy games in international football and nothing can be taken for granted. Clarke is acutely aware of that. His side needed a late, late goal to overcome the Faroe Islands away during their eight game unbeaten run last season. But moving up a pot could prove to be a game changer.
Scotland have not been among the second seeds in qualifying since the draw for the 2010 World Cup was made way back in 2007. On that occasion, they failed to progress from a group which included the Netherlands and Norway. But two teams from each Euro 2024 section will go through.
If John McGinn and his team mates can replicate their performances against Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland this month in qualifying they will give whoever they come up against a game, even the top seeds, and might not need to worry about the play-offs.
So how did Scotland go from the depths of despair in June to scale such giddy heights in September? The switch from a 3-4-2-1 formation to a 4-2-3-1 was transformational. The defence was solid and limited the number of scoring chances their opponents created. The midfield controlled games for long periods. And they created far more in the final third.
Jack Hendry, Scott McKenna and Ryan Porteous, the uncapped Hibernian man who was an unexpected selection ahead of Declan Gallagher and Stephen Kingsley, were all superb at centre half. Aaron Hickey was a revelation at right back after Nathan Patterson suffered his injury. Greg Taylor proved to be a more than able deputy for Kieran Tierney at left back.
It is a given now that Craig Gordon will shine whenever he represents his country. But the 39-year-old made several vital saves and kept two clean sheets. His manager admitted the lack of young goalkeepers coming through is a concern. However, the individual in possession of the No 1 jersey could still be turning out for his country when he is 50.
Scott McTominay formed a good central midfield partnership with Callum McGregor and ahead of them Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Christie, Ryan Fraser, McGinn all contributed greatly. Scotland may not have a Erling Haaland, Harry Kane or Robert Lewandowski in attack. But Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes showed once again they can be a handful.
Clarke did not have his problems to seek with injury and illness during the camp. He was missing no fewer than 16 players, Grant Hanley, McTominay, Patterson, Andy Robertson and Tierney among them, for the rematch with Ukraine this week. A sickness bug also swept through his squad.
Those who came in executed his game plan to perfection and there was no significant drop in standards. The strength in depth which the manager now has in most outfield positions make him hopeful for the future.
“We’ve found another way to play,” he said. we’ve found other players in the squad who can do very, very well for us. The squad is stronger.
“It means if we are going to places like the other night, when you are looking to get a result that takes us to that next step, then we know we have a team that can do it.
“The building blocks were actually there in the summer. We had to beat Armenia after the disappointment (of the defeats to Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland in June).
“It was about taking six points from the lowest ranked team in the group and then you know you have the top two seeds in the space of a week. This is what we’ve had to learn and make sure we get better.”
Playing in the A League of the Nations League will be tough. Both England and Wales were relegated this month after finishing bottom of their sections. And they have both booked their places at the Qatar 2022 finals in November.
However, Clarke is looking forward to his charges pitting themselves against the best footballers on the planet and knows that doing so will improve them even further.
“I haven’t looked at who is there yet or who we can get,” he said. “It’s tough. It’s certainly not going to be easy. You see Wales, they went up and they’ve come back again.
“But if you want to improve you want to play against the better teams. We’re going to be challenged six times in that tournament, that’s for sure.
“But these players have come away from this tournament as better players and they will come away from the next one even better again. The young guys will be getting more experience playing against top teams.”
Going up into the A League at the same time as England were relegated was sweet for members of the Tartan Army – they sang joyously about the Auld Enemy’s fate before and during the Ukraine game on Tuesday night.
But Clarke is unconcerned about our near neighbours’ woes. He has far more to occupy his thoughts once he gets a well-earned rest. “I don’t think we’ve got anything over England,” he said. “They weren't involved in this process. We’ll just enjoy it for ourselves.”
