Mail Online

ROAD TO GLORY

McLeish: Star quality can take Scots to Qatar

By Graeme Croser

ALEX McLEISH last night backed his successor Steve Clarke to navigate a path through the play-offs and lead Scotland to next year’s World Cup finals.

Clarke’s team will face Ukraine at Hampden in next March’s semi-finals and, if successful, will travel to face either Wales or Austria in the final a few days later.

McLeish, who played at three World Cups for Scotland, believes the draw has been kind to his country. And, on the back of six consecutive victories in the group stage qualifiers, he sees no reason to fear the final two hurdles between the national team and Qatar 2022.

He said: ‘I really do think we will go on now and qualify.

‘I say that because of the quality of player we have at

our disposal. We have Andy Robertson at Liverpool, Scott McTominay at Manchester United and today I watched John McGinn curl in another superb goal for Aston Villa at Crystal Palace.

‘These guys are playing at the highest level in the best league in the world.

‘I have known Clarkey for a long time and have great respect for him and for the job he has done since taking over. He has been brilliant.

‘It’s about time we made it back to a World Cup and I believe we will go and do it.’

McLeish had two spells in charge of the national team, most recently steering the team through the inaugural Nations League to secure the play-off from which Clarke secured qualification for Euro 2020.

Prior to that he had a stint at the helm in 2007. If the highlight of that spell was a 1-0 win over France in Paris, it was run close by a victory over Ukraine at Hampden when goals from Kenny Miller, Lee McCulloch and James McFadden brought a 3-1 result.

Back then Ukraine’s top performers were Andriy Shevchenko and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk. Today’s vintage have Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Andriy Yarmolenko at the forefront and made it to the last eight of the Euros.

McLeish has happy memories of their last visit to Glasgow and sees no reason to fear the March 24 showdown. He continued: ‘We have home advantage for the Ukraine game and that can be so important. I remember that game back in 2007 and we went in feeling really good abut ourselves.

‘We got off to a great start with Kenny’s header and then scored a second from a set-piece. That one was pinched straight from Sir Alex Ferguson, a similar move we had done at Aberdeen back in a European tie against Bayern Munich.

‘Big Lee McCulloch got on the end of it and curled in a great goal. Faddy finished it off with those twisty feet of his.’

With 77 caps, McLeish is Scotland’s third most capped player of all time and cherishes his memories of playing at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Mexico 86 and Italia 90. Qualification for Mexico remains a bittersweet memory due to the passing of manager Jock Stein on the night a play-off was secured with a 1-1 draw against Wales in Cardiff.

With a possible return to the Welsh capital on the cards this time round, McLeish said: ‘This takes me right back to the night when big Jock died and we qualified for that play-off against Australia.

‘Back then we were used to qualifying. If we’re being honest, we all took it for granted that we’d be at every World Cup.

‘It’s high time we were back but this group of players already knows what it takes to qualify for a tournament.

‘They’ve been over the course for the Euros and that will give them the knowledge and experience to do it again.’

Football

en-gb

2021-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/284494346729652

dmg media (UK)