Berry Ferguson said that there is definite path for Euro 2024 stars to break through the glass ceiling.
Being a football player was tadream come true for me. When I was younger, I wanted to play for Rangers, win championships with the team. I grew up supporting and challenge the best players in Europe and the South.
Every night I would imagine what it would be like to be Scotland’s captain and wake up to the sound of a sold-out Hampden. And I was so lucky to see all those dreams come true as a guy.
Chances of rain is rising during the weekend
The one goal, nevertheless, that I was unable to fulfill was attending a significant competition. And I have to say, there will be a part of me that wishes it were me when I settle down with my tea and toast tonight to support Steve Clarke’s team against Germany.
As captain, I would have loved to have been there, waiting to lead the players out for the first Euro 2024 match while standing in the tunnel. With those painful play-off losses to England and the Netherlands, as well as the cruel setback to Italy in 2007, I came close to it a few times.
Although the Scotland team I played for was not successful, I’m delighted that today’s team is receiving attention during the competition and has definite path for Euro 2024 stars to succeed by overcoming the challenges.
Like the Tartan Army soldiers who have been pouring into Munich all week, I have no doubt that Steve and his men are feeling every bit as thrilled.
All I can hope is that they seize the opportunity, as I think Germany is under a lot of pressure.
Although the hosts have many elite players, they aren’t as good as they once were, and I think Scotland can make a difference in this match. So, I’d say, “Go for it!” In twenty years, I don’t want them to be sitting here, harboring regrets and wondering what-ifs.
They meritoriously qualified for the competition and deserve to be on the main stage.
They now have to have faith in their ability to break through the glass ceiling and become the first Scottish side to do it.
After participating in Euro 2020, the majority of the team has experienced major finals previously.
But let’s face it, with the COVID crowd limitations, that was a bit of a damp squib.
This year’s event already feels like a real tournament, with hundreds, if not millions, of fans traveling from all across the continent to Germany—all before a ball has been kicked.
Although they have home advantage, Julian Nagelsmann’s team has seen some poor performances in the recent year or two.
They weren’t the dominant team you would have expected, losing 3-2 to Turkey in one of Nagelsmann’s first games and getting hammered 4-1 by Japan under former coach Hansi Flick.
Naturally, Clarke will want his players to enter the game believing they are up against a strong team, but I think we can beat this Germany team. There are places where we can harm them, particularly if Robertson and Kieren Tierney can get going down our left side.
Furthermore, I think that our players now possess the necessary mindset to rise to the situation. A Champions League winner, Andy Robertson, Callum McGregor, John McGinn, and Scott McTominay all demonstrated how much they loved their roles as this team’s talismans.
Naturally, we would have like to have Lyndon Dykes, Aaron Hickey, and the other guys who were sidelined due to injuries available, but I still think the players that boarded the plane to Bavaria have enough talent and definitely the appropriate mentality to be really confident.
I’m most excited to watch how little Billy Gilmour does against Toni Kroos in the middle of the pitch because I was a midfielder once.
I’ve been delighted to watch the little man thrive at Brighton this season in the South. It’s fun to watch him.
Billy’s ability to set the pace and control the ball was a major factor in our 70-minute match victory over the Dutch earlier this year.
I believe Gilmour needs to put in more of it if we’re going to see any kind of outcome. Naturally, it won’t be simple to defeat Kroos.
After winning the World Cup and winning six, yes, six, Champions League titles, what more is there to say about this guy?
Fortunately for me, I faced some true German giants. In 1999, I played against Lothar Matthaus of Rangers in a Champions League double header.
A few years later, I faced Scotland’s Michael Ballack in Dortmund. However, Kroos is on a whole other level for me. He is a gentleman, but how can you stop him?
We just cannot afford to sit a player of his caliber off the field and give him as much time and space as he wants with the ball. That would only beg for problems.
I think we should bite his ankles, get in his face, and maybe bundle him over a few times. He has dealt with all of that before, so of course he won’t mind handling it nine times out of ten.
However, if McGinn is all over him like a rash and Gilmour is ready to retrieve the spares, perhaps that’s how we identify the tiny gaps in the German defense that let us launch a counterattack and possibly score a well-known goal.
It’s going to require boldness and ninety flawless minutes. If Scotland succeeds, though, their hopes do not have to end at the group stage.