THERE will be Scotland fans who would ordinarily consider the donation of a kidney to be a fair enough swap if it meant they could follow the nation to a World Cup, who will nonetheless feel a little conflicted about cheering on their nation against Ukraine tonight.
Such are the tragic circumstances back in their homeland, many will find it difficult to will even their own country to stamp on the dreams of the Ukrainian players, give the symbol of hope they would become for their compatriots should they triumph at Hampden.
It wasn’t quite so startling then as it ordinarily may have been to hear a bona fide Scotland legend like Graeme Souness saying this week that he hopes Ukraine win, but as warm a sentiment as that may be, it won’t be one shared by 50,000-odd members of the Tartan Army when the whistle goes in Mount Florida this evening.
For 90 minutes – at least - goodwill towards the visitors will be placed firmly on the backburner, and Steve Clarke’s players fall firmly into that camp too.
Of the current Scotland squad, no one has waited longer than Craig Gordon for such an opportunity to present itself, with the Hearts keeper wryly acknowledging the fact that Souness’s opinion comes from the luxurious position of having represented his country at three World Cups during his own career.
So, while Gordon retains the greatest respect for Souness – and his opinions – it’s fair to say his words won’t be figuring in the pre-match team-talk, or much on the minds of the Scotland players.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Gordon said. “He’s entitled to his opinion.
“I know the guys that go out on the pitch, the squad here, would desperately love to get to a World Cup.
“It’s maybe a bit different - he’s not playing now. For us players, these opportunities don’t come around very often. We desperately want to make this our time.
“We have a very difficult match to win just to get through to the next stage. So that’s all we are concentrating on. We want to go and try to win that and whoever anybody wants to support, that’s entirely up to them.
“These chances do not come around very often. And at 39, you don’t know if there will be another one. It’s a huge opportunity but it’s still a very difficult game.
“You just have to concentrate on the football. That’s what we’re trained to do. We can’t even imagine what’s going on. We have no clue really. We can’t understand exactly what all these players are going through, what each individual’s circumstances are.
“What we have to do is concentrate on football, be ready and make sure we are as prepared as we can be to try to win the match.
“I know everybody here, our aim is to get to the World Cup. No matter which team gets put in our way, we have to try to win the match. There is no room for that [debate]. It is up to each individual supporter to decide what they want.
“For us as a group, we want to try to win a football match.”
As a testimony to Gordon’s longevity in international football, he is unsurprisingly the only player from the Scotland team who faced Ukraine on their last visit to Hampden in 2007 who is still plying his trade professionally, never mind at such a high level.
He would dearly love a repeat of the 3-1 scoreline that Alex McLeish’s men battled to on that day come full-time this evening.
“The game at Hampden was excellent,” he said. “It was a really good performance.
“I remember the goals — Kenny Miller had a header at the near post for the first one, Lee McCulloch made it two from a set piece round the back where he peeled off, took the ball down and curled a great finish into the far corner. Then it was all about Faddy (James McFadden) with the third one.
“It was a great game and a close game as well. I know it was 3-1 but it was a really tight game. But it was probably one of our best performances in that group campaign.
“On the flip side we got beat in Ukraine but both games were close and I expect this one to be no different.”
There is a big difference however in the approaches of the Scotland team of that era and of now, with Gordon believing that this may very well be the best national side he has been a part of in his long career.
“I think they play differently,” he said. “That was very much a counter-attacking team whereas this team can get on the ball and make things happen and be a possession based team at times as well.
“The characteristics of the team are different but I’d certainly take the same result at Hampden.
“I think we’re pretty good [right now]. It’s hard to judge between different eras, football has developed as well, so it’s hard to judge which players you would put in a sort of dream team.
“But certainly at the moment, I do feel as if we have the players that are capable of scoring goals, of hurting teams.
“We’re fully confident that if we get everything right and we play to the best of our abilities, that we can win.”
