Graeme Sharp believes acclimatising to the heat of America and maintaining squad harmony will be two of the key ingredients to a fruitful World Cup for Scotland.
The 65-year-old was part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad for the global showpiece in Mexico in 1986 as they exited at the group stage after taking just one point from Denmark, West Germany and Uruguay.
Sharp recalls having to contend with “brutal” conditions, and the Scots are set to face similarly searing temperatures in America, particularly when they face Brazil in Miami later this month.
“The conditions were really, really tough and the lads will find that again,” Sharp said on Wednesday as he promoted the pre-season friendly between his former club Everton and Newcastle at Murrayfield, Edinburgh on August 12.
“The conditions were brutal, that was the one thing that we found really, really tough, acclimatising to the conditions in Mexico.
“I think that’s important but sports science has moved on now, so they’ll be better equipped than what we were.”
Sharp described his World Cup involvement as a career highlight but said it was “disappointing that I didn’t play in more games”, with his only appearance coming in Scotland’s final group match against Uruguay after he was left out of the defeats by West Germany and Denmark.
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The former Everton forward believes the club spirit Steve Clarke has fostered during his seven years in charge of Scotland will prove invaluable in ensuring those who do not see much game time in America remain positive.
“I think the most important thing is to keep everybody happy,” he said. “I think even in our time, Sir Alex was great. He made sure that, for instance, six players went with this coach, went out for a meal, six went with that coach, six went out with him, just to try and get a bond together.
“You look at the Scotland team now and they are bonded, I think they’re very tight. You see their reactions when they qualified and the way the team are very close, so I think that stands them in good stead.
“I think in our time, it was a little bit different. It was a kind of ‘them and us’ situation, between the Anglos and the boys who played up in Scotland, and there wasn’t really that mix together.
“I’m not saying that was the reason why we didn’t qualify, but I found that quite strange, coming from a club atmosphere where everybody was all in it together. Hopefully that isn’t the case now, I don’t think it is. Hopefully they can do a job there and make us proud.
“You look at the group we’re in, it could have been kinder but four points may be enough to see us through.
“Brazil in the last game is going to be tough, so I think Steve will be looking to do the job in the first two games (against Haiti and Morocco) and go into the Brazil game with the points already on the board.”
