THE reviving dip which the members of the Scotland squad had been scheduled to take in the Losiach River which runs through Garmisch-Partenkirchen yesterday afternoon was cancelled due to a downpour of biblical proportions.
“We had our ice baths,” said centre half Jack Hendry as he spoke to reporters in the Bavarian town last night. “Have you seen the river? There might have been some of the boys who would have got swept away!”
Hendry - who was, like so many of the national team’s players, excellent in the 1-1 draw with Switzerland in the RheinEnrgieStadion in Cologne on Wednesday night – has no fears about his team mates being swept away by Hungary on Sunday.
Steve Clarke’s men have an opportunity to make history when they face Marco Rossi’s charges in the MHPArena in Stuttgart this weekend - if they win their final Group A match they will make it through to the knockout rounds of a major tournament for the first time ever.
The pressure is well and truly on Scotland, who are being cheered on in Germany by tens of thousands of Tartan Army footsoldiers, to produce a performance as assured as the one they conjured up in midweek and secure their place in the last 16 of Euro 2024.
Not having Kieran Tierney, who was stretchered off in the second half with an injury which Clarke described as “a bad one”, available for selection will not help their cause any.
“I think everyone throughout that squad has got that winning mentality,” he said. “To play at big clubs you have to have it. And hopefully that comes through against Hungary, which it has done.
“We are here on merit, it is back-to-back European Championships, so there is a reason we are at that stage. It is about everybody getting behind each other, pushing us in the right direction and hopefully get a reward from it.”
The 33-times capped 29-year-old was certainly impressed with how Tony Ralston recovered after his underhit pass was pounced on by Xherdan Shaqiri and whipped beyond Angus Gunn and into the top corner of the Scotland net on Wednesday evening.
He appreciates from personal experience just how challenging being a player at Parkhead can be and reckons the daily demands which Ralston has on him to succeed at home and abroad will have proved invaluable in that situation.
“Look, mistakes happen in football,” he said. “I have made many of them. All the other 21 players who were on the field have made lots of mistakes. It is how you react from them. Obviously, Tony reacted in a first class way.
“To be in that arena and that environment and make a slight mistake that leads to a goal is tough. It says a lot about Tony’s character the way he then performed afterwards. He should be proud and not let it affect him.
“In a way, it should give him more confidence that he can have those kind of setbacks and still stand back up. Fair play to him, it is quite an intimidating arena. And I thought he did really well after it.
“There is no getting away from it. There are millions of people watching. But you have to take the emotions out of it, draw a line under it and forget the way it happened and reset. Thankfully, Tony was able to do that.
“It is not easy. Not a lot of people would be able to do that. There has to be a lot of respect for Tony in that instance. Some people would not know what to do in those circumstances, with millions watching. I thought he reacted really well.
“I think he is a strong character. Obviously, I played with Tony for a brief spell with Celtic. You wouldn’t be at Celtic if you weren’t a resilient character. Again, Celtic has obviously got its own testimonies with the size and stature of the club.
“You are going to have setbacks at different parts during games. I am sure Tony has had that at Celtic as well. Yeah, it shows a lot about his character that he was able to continue his game.”
Henry made a beeline for Ralston immediately after Shaqiri levelled, put his arm around his shoulder and offered him a few words. So what did he say to his distraught team mate?
“Keep your head up, forget about it, we have got your back, these things happen,” he said. “It is simple as that. There is not point dwelling on it. It has been, it is done, there is no point dwelling on it, you can’t affect the past, it is about moving forward.”
“For us, it is just about concentrating on that game against Hungary, giving it our best shot and seeing where it takes us,” he said. “We will go into that game with full belief we can get something and what will be will be.
“But one thing about this squad I can guarantee you – we are going in to win that game. Fingers crossed we can achieve that and make the country proud.”
