Thank You Scotland!

Date: 21st September 2022

As Scotland fans we don’t ask for a lot.

We know that we can’t expect a win every ninety minutes, we sadly also realise that we cannot expect to go to every international tournament. 

All we ask for is a team to be proud of. A team that fights for us. A team that will press. A team that will play with their heart. A team that will make us cheer. A team that allows us to dream! 

Against the Ukraine, Scotland boss Steve Clarke picked a team that gave us all of that and so much more. 

Playing with a back four really seems to give us a better balance and allows us to push up quicker than when we’ve played with three centre-backs. Kieran Tierney was superb and seemed to cover every blade of grass. Nathan Patterson again showed he has the potential to be top class. While it was obviously sad to see the young right-back leave the field with an injury, Aaron Hickey came on and was fantastic. 

I was also very impressed with our two centre-backs, who were composed throughout and who nullified much of the Ukrainian threats that they faced. 

From early on we pressed the opposition, won tackles in the middle of the park and when called upon our defenders won their challenges too. 

Scotland were solid in possession and that tired Ukraine out. All the time we looked to get it out to either wing and put in crosses. 

In the second half we continued to have an upper hand over the away team. We pushed and we created, all we needed was to put the ball into the back of the net. It felt as though it was coming.

In past Scotland sides have seen chances wasted and that would often see our heads go down but tonight it felt different. We just kept on chasing that glorious strike. We just kept on running and winning the ball back. Ukraine simply couldn’t cope with our sheer intensity. 

The Scotland players had passion and they made it count. 

On the 70th minute; we again won the ball back, our captain John McGinn then used his magnificent backside to see our a defender and turn before slotting home. Hampden erupted in a deep roar, fans boogied and we were on our way. 

Interestingly Clarke went for a bold double attacking substitution to apply even more pressure onto our opponents. Both subs Lyndon Dykes and Ryan Fraser combined as Dykes sensationally bulleted a header to double our lead. Once again we didn’t stop and that saw Dykes grab yet another with his head. 

The energy, the hard work and the passion from all of our players was simply sensational. It allows us to dream and think of Euro 2024. 

I was proud watching that Scotland performance. We’ve been in a bit of a slump recently and that is exactly what the nation needed. 

Thank you Scotland! Now let’s see more of that fighting spirit on Saturday against Ireland! 

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