Scotland Face Crucial Qualifier Against Greece in Athens
Athens, greece – Scotland travel to Athens tonight seeking a positive result – a draw or a win – against Greece in their penultimate World Cup qualifying match. The fixture carries important weight as Steve Clarke’s side aims to strengthen their position in Group F and move closer to securing a place at the World Cup in Qatar.
Clarke remained tight-lipped regarding his starting goalkeeper, stating, “I came in with an open mind…You’ve got to watch the lads, how they’re training, how they work and then I’ve got to make the decision.” Despite not featuring in competitive football this season, Heart of Midlothian’s Craig Gordon is widely considered the favorite for the role. Clarke emphasized the importance of every decision ahead of these “two games of such magnitude.”
Looking back at Scotland’s previous qualifier, a 2-1 victory over Belarus at Hampden, Clarke admitted to feeling anger and a degree of fear. “My only concern at the time was we might drop points in a game that we shouldn’t drop points,” he explained. “It probably came from a little bit of fear that we were going to make a mess of things.And we managed to avoid that.” However, Clarke stressed his focus remains solely on tonight’s match, refusing to project ahead to a potential qualification scenario against Denmark on Tuesday.
Greece, meanwhile, are aiming to salvage pride despite their qualification hopes being extinguished by three consecutive defeats, including a 3-1 loss at Hampden and two games against Denmark.Head coach Ivan Jovanovic maintains belief in his team’s ability,stating,”I respect Scotland – a very good team with very good players. But in our four games,in only one did we not reach the level we believe we have [the 3-0 home loss to Denmark].” He dismissed the match as a “revenge” game, asserting, “The Scots have greater motivation, but the Greeks have our own motivation for the fans and for the team.”
