Steve Clarke last night urged his Scotland stars to dredge up one last big push towards Euro 2024 - and then show Erling Haaland how to party this summer.
Clarke and his players arrived here in Norway on Friday night ahead of a crucial Group A showdown which could all but eliminate Haaland and his side from the race to the finals in Germany. A Scotland win would leave Clarke’s squad op of the section with nine points from nine after getting off to a blistering Hampden start with back-to-back victories over Cyprus and Spain.
And, with Norway taking only one point from a possible six, treble winner Haaland could be hit with one almighty end of season hangover following his heroics with Manchester City. The 22-year-old spent the start of the week tearing it up with Jack Grealish on a boozy bender to celebrate City’s historic campaign. And while Clarke was careful last night to remain non-committal when asked if the superstar striker may have over-indulged.
He said simply: “It doesn’t bother me. They enjoyed themselves – they won the Treble.”
But he insisted his own players will have every right to milk their own moment if they can bring the curtain down on the campaign with two more wins over Haaland’s Norway and then Georgia on Tuesday night. He said: “Yes, that’s what the summer’s for. You can enjoy your holidays. But before then, we have two big bits of business to get done - and hopefully they can do that.”
Clarke and his players arrived in sizzling conditions laer yesterday evening as Oslo basked in a summer heatwave of its own.
The lung-bursting conditions have been taken into consideration by UEFA with the possibility of water breaks being discussed ahead of an early evening kick-off. But Clarke insists his players will not be beaten by fatigue at the end of a draining campaign.
He said: “Both teams are in a similar position. Norway pull the majority of their players from the top flight leagues across Europe and we do the same. They have all had the same season. They are actually reasonably fit young men these days. It’s not like when we played and took eight weeks to recover.
”They are in a good place. Physically and mentally they are ready and hopefully the performance shows that.”
Clarke, who revealed that Rangers defender John Souttar is likely to be kept in reserve before being reinstated against the Georgians, is also hoping his players can pay former Scotland stalwart Gordon McQueen the ultimate tribute tonight. McQueen passed away on Thursday after a battle with dementia and Clarke is aware that the late great’s last Scotland goal came here at the Ullevaal Stadium in a 4-0 win over Norway in June 1979.
The manager said: “I’d obviously like to send my condolences to the McQueen family. It’s a sad loss at a relatively young age. But he was a good man, a big man and hopefully we can do his memory justice tomorrow night.
“I’m sure the big man will be looking down on us. I always speak to the players about the legacy they can leave. And certainly Gordon’s left a good legacy.”
