‘Understated start shows Clarke’s Scotland are back in the game’

Steve Clarke, as usual, spoke up his team’s sincerity and work ethic in a heroic manner, going only so far as to earn a valuable World Cup qualification point against Denmark in Copenhagen.

Clarke occasionally makes praise. He views these situations with suspicion. At a thousand paces, he can sense hype. He applauds his players for their work and pride, but he never seems to have a different perspective when he is present.

He grinned at Scotland’s promising attempt to win their first World Cup since 1998, we believe. He did not discuss the night’s potential psychology, but it was obvious.

One of their two main rivals in the group has been damaged by Scotland, taking a point from the Parken. They have already put Denmark on the back foot in a game that is more of a sprint than a marathon, with six games to go.

The Danes will be underdogs starting on Monday when they travel to Greece. Greece are a young force that defeated Scotland 3-0 at Hampden in March before defeating Bulgaria 4-0 and Slovakia 4-1. On Friday, they hammered Belarus 5-1.

With one point from a possible six, Denmark’s campaign could be in trouble on Monday if Greece maintain their excellent form. If they defeat Belarus in Budapest, Scotland could have four.

There is no harm in projecting here, despite how badly it is. In the upcoming window, Clarke’s team will travel to Greece and Belarus. They will feel good about themselves if they score four out of six in the game. There are reasons to be optimistic, but it’s not necessary.

Scotland and its qualification for the World Cup are not exactly in line with that. Their aspirations have suffered a lot since their last nod in 1998.

One of their first four games were won in order to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Four years earlier, they effectively eliminated themselves from the running with two home draws. After four years, they only won one of their first four games against Macedonia in their opening game.

Clarke never seems too optimistic or pessimistic. Scotland worked like demons and earned their point against a Denmark team that is 26 places above them in the rankings. A strong start against the group’s supposedly best team was a draw on the road.

There would have been a misunderstanding about Lyndon Dykes’ inclusion in his team when it was announced, as he had been incredibly combative throughout the night, and it would have been more of the same anger that accompanies every Scotland team that has Grant Hanley in its defense.

Hanley was outstanding, and Clarke almost always chooses him. An experienced defender who enjoys defending. Former Scotland captain and centre-half Willie Miller described him as “a magnet to the ball” in the BBC Radio Scotland Sportsound studio. And don’t forget to bring your A game if you have any disagreements with the great man.

Many of these Scotland players had difficult season openings, which was admirable. Since last May, Angus Gunn hasn’t played a club game. In Bologna’s two games this season, Lewis Ferguson has been a reserve. With Torino, Che Adams has a mix. One of Birmingham’s six games has been started by Dykes.

After almost two years of being out injured, Aaron Hickey has just returned to play football. Before facing Denmark, he had 77 minutes of action under his belt with Brentford since October 2023. He appeared to have never been away during his 70 minutes with Scotland. He still stands at age 23, which was incredibly impressive and comforting.

Let’s just say that we’ve been in the movie once or twice since Clarke’s appointment more than six years ago because it’s difficult to keep track of how many times he has been criticized as Scotland’s head coach.

Those four games were played, lost, scored, and scored against 13 in those early games. A winless Euros in 2021, a World Cup loss to Ukraine in 2022, and a mind-alteringly subpar 3-0 defeat to a Republic of Ireland team that couldn’t get a win before arriving at Hampden were the disappointments.

Between 2023 and 2024, there were 16 victories and four losses in succession, with Hungary’s utterly pointless defeat at the Euros in Germany being the worst. That summer, calls for Clarke’s departure really reached a crescendo.

Then, when Greece and Iceland defeated Hampden 3-3 and 3-1, the new wave of disbelievers arrived, not to be outdone by their victory margin. Scotland supporters might have responded that they were traveling more optimistically than they were expecting if they had been questioned about the trip to Denmark.