Already in dire need of points ahead of their second match in Euro’s Group D against England on Friday, Scotland “can do better than defending” at Wembley, assured Premier League resident midfielder John McGuin on Wednesday.
“It is a great team with a lot of world class players in their starting XI and on the bench. But we know that if we do our best, we will give them a lot of problems,” said the Aston Villa player.
“We compete with most of these guys week after week, and we keep the idea on the road (…) to get the message across to the boys who play in Scotland or elsewhere. We have to defend ourselves. Can do better than that,” he said.
After reaching the first final of a major tournament in 23 years with two shootout victories in shoot-offs against Israel and Serbia, Scotland were disappointed to lose their first game (2–0), the most on paper against the Czech Republic. seemed more accessible. , followed by a double from Patrick Schick, including a wonderful lob from the midfielder.
“It’s a goal we’ll be talking about for years to come,” McGuin said. “I was right behind him and I still have nightmares where I see the curvy trajectory of the ball. It was an absolutely wonderful goal,” he admitted.
For his part, the Scottish coach, Steve Clarke, still wants to believe miracles are possible for his team that others have seen.
In the jump-off, Serbia equalized in the last second, facing extra time and then penalties.
“Winning on Monday would have been the easy way out. This never happens with Scotland. Otherwise we would have won 1-0 in Serbia and everyone would be in bed at midnight,” he said.
“But we chose Serbia to score and take the hard way, so I hope we follow that path and do it the hard way, Scottish.”
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