AS the whole of the country celebrated one of the greatest wins in the history of Scottish football back in March, Steve Clarke retained his ice-cool demeanour.
They may have been dancing in the streets from Langholm to Lerwick after two goals from Scott McTominay secured a joyous and improbable 2-0 triumph over former World Cup winners Spain at Hampden.
And Tartan Army footsoldiers far and wide might have been checking out the cost of flights to and accommodation in Germany next summer after their heroes surged three points clear at the top of their Euro 2024 qualifying group.
But deep in the bowels of the Mount Florida stadium afterwards, Scotland manager Clarke, the man who had masterminded the epic triumph over Luis de la Fuentes’ feted charges, remained firmly focused on the task in hand.
“We came back into the changing room and he didn’t crack a smile at all,” said Ryan Christie yesterday after taking part in another training session at Hampden ahead of the Group A match against Cyprus in Larnaca tomorrow night. “He was pure business.”
The victories over Cyprus, Spain, Norway and Georgia have put the national team in a commanding position – they are eight points clear in first place - at the halfway stage in their Euro 2024 campaign.
If they extend their winning run and pick up another three points against their bottom-placed opponents in the AEK Arena tomorrow night, they could, if results on Tuesday night go their way, secure qualification next week without kicking a ball.
Yet, nobody in the Scotland camp is, with a lugubrious leader like Clarke overseeing operations, attempting to work out the possible permutations. They are only interested in producing another assured display.
“The manager is good at that,” said Christie. “He’s really good at humbling us, grounding us, keeping us concentrated on the job at hand and not getting too far ahead of ourselves.
“Even on Monday night for the first meeting of camp, he was straight back down to business making sure everyone keeps their feet on the ground and gets the job done.
“We’re obviously in a really good place now, but it’s still only halfway in the group. If you look the games, we’ve probably had a favourable draw in terms of the fixtures so far.
“But we have got Spain away next month and Georgia away after that is a hard game as well. It’s nice the position we’re in. Obviously, though, there is work to be done.
“The reaction since the World Cup game (Scotland lost to Ukraine in the Qatar 2022 play off semi final last summer) has been brilliant. We just want to continue that as long as we can. But the better you do, the harder it is. So you have to keep performing.
“These games are always tough. Our last game out in Cyprus (in a Euro 2020 qualifier back in 2019) was a tough game even though we won 2-1. I’m sure the conditions will hot out there this week. These are the games, if you’re a good team, you need to go out and win.”
Christie, the former Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Aberdeen and Celtic forward who is now plying his trade in the Premier League in England with Bournemouth, has proved that he can perform when it matters most in the past.
He netted Scotland’s only goal in their Euro 2020 play off final win over Serbia in Belgrade – a strike which he not surprisingly considers to be the best of his professional career.
He is determined to find the target once again in the rematch with Cyprus.
“To this day, that Serbia goal is the favourite,” he said. “That kind of speaks volumes. Any time you score for your country is great. I loved scoring the penalty in the Ireland game (in the Nations League last September). When you’re scoring to help the team achieve something it’s a nice feeling.
“Scoring goals is amazing and when you do it at international level it’s even better. I’m desperate to add to my tally and help the team out because Scotty has been doing it all himself so far. I could do with a few more. The goals seem to have stopped of late.”
The 39-times capped 28-year-old feels that Serbia victory, which ended an excruciating 23 year wait to reach the finals of a major tournament, elevated Scotland to another level.
He is optimistic they now have the ability and mentality needed to negotiate the forthcoming matches and qualify once again.
“That was obviously a big turning point,” he said. “Even though we did not want to speak about it, it just kind of felt that there was this omen against us in campaigns and everything was going against us. To get that over the line was amazing.”
But Christie and his compatriots have grander ambitions. Losing to the Czech Republic and Croatia and failing to reach the knockout rounds at the Euro 2020 finals stung. He wants to secure a place in Germany and then ensure Scotland progress beyond the group stages for the first time in their history.
“The Euros were incredible,” he said. “But we wished we had done better. We were obviously delighted with the performance we put in against England at Wembley (they drew 0-0). But the other two games at Hampden against the Czech Republic and Croatia were probably frustrating.
“We want to go to these tournaments and not just make up the numbers, we want to show how good a team we are. We put the pressure on ourselves because we want to be there and we think we are good enough a team to do that.
“There is definitely a feeling of the whole country pulling together now since that last Euros, which is an amazing feeling. It is lucky for me that I am getting to play a part of it.”
Asked what does put a smile on the face of Scotland manager Steve Clarke, Christie said: “Good question!”
But if Cyprus are overcome in Larnaca tomorrow night and another three Euro 2024 qualification points are accumulated then he might, even just in private, allow himself the subtlest of grins.
