FORMER Scotland internationalist Lee McCulloch has expressed confidence the national team can enjoy a successful Euro 2024 finals despite their Netherlands defeat thanks to the goalscoring prowess of midfielders John McGinn and Scott McTominay.
Steve Clarke’s men squandered a glut of chances up front against Ronald Koemann’s charges in the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam on Friday night and ended up on the receiving end of a 4-0 thrashing as a consequence.
However, ex-Ibrox captain McCulloch, who won 18 caps for his country between 2004 and 2010, still has faith in McGinn and McTominay and has backed the Aston Villa and Manchester United players to supply a much-needed cutting edge in attack in Germany this summer.
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“Scott has done really well for Scotland,” he said earlier this week as he promoted the pre-season friendly match between Rangers and United at Murrayfield in July.
“He was arguably the best player through the campaign. If he was not the best then he was certainly one of the best. You look at the goals he scores and the importance of those goals and he has made a big contribution to Scotland’s qualification. Hopefully, he can continue to show that form through the Euros themselves.
“It always helps if you have goalscoring midfielders in your team and especially in Scotland’s case. When you go with the formation the manager favours, you really need to have your midfielders chipping in with goals. With Scott and John in the side, that is exactly what you get.”
“It is that big a game, to play against Germany, the hosts, to open the tournament. What an experience that is for everyone. For all our players, the management and, of course, the fans.
“I would not rule us out of getting a point or even winning the game. I have tickets to go, but I don’t know what I am going to do yet. I am waiting on my two boys deciding it for me!”
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McCulloch was, despite being involved in both of the Euro 2008 qualifying wins over France, unable to help Scotland to make it through to a major tournament finals during his playing days.
However, he feels the national team have moved on since Clarke was appointed manager five years ago and can travel to Germany this summer with high hopes of making it out of the group stages for the first time in their history.
“We got some good results against some good teams, France and Ukraine,” he said “Unfortunately, though, when it came to it, we just fell a little bit short. At the time of the defeat to Italy in 2007 we were really annoyed because we felt that was us landed with the glorious failure tag again.
“But, listen, the boys have shed that glorious failure label now. They have got over the hurdle of getting us through to a major finals. The manager deserves so much credit.
“Not just for the team he has built but also for the culture and the environment he has developed. A culture in which is not just about the individual but about the collective.
“Lets hope we now go and become the first team in Scotland’s history to get through. What an achievement that would be.
“The Germany game is probably the biggest game of the tournament because it is the opening match. The whole world will be watching so if we can get a result it would put Scotland right on the footballing map.”
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