\n<\/p>\n
That in itself is a compliment of sorts to Clarke, who has hauled Scotland out of the international wilderness to be within touching distance of going to USA, Canada and Mexico next summer.<\/p>\n
Since the late and magnificent Craig Brown trudged off the park in St Etienne in the summer of 1998, six different Scotland managers tried and failed to get the nation to a major tournament.<\/p>\n
Play-offs came and went. So too did the international careers of many players who deserved more.<\/p>\n
Then came Clarke in 2019. The man who had thrived at Kilmarnock in his native Ayrshire after a successful career on and off the pitch in England took the national team from losing in Kazakhstan to back-to-back Euros. <\/p>\n
He did so with a blend of Brown’s hard-to-beat mantra, an emerging crop of talent and a dollop of landmark results.<\/p>\n
Spain beaten at Hampden. Norway turned over in their own backyard. Serbia outdone on penalties five years ago. Croatia upstaged in Glasgow.<\/p>\n
Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Billy Gilmour, Andy Robertson – some old and some new, but players with reputations and pedigrees to match, who have helped haul Scotland from the shadows of irrelevance into the spotlight.<\/p>\n
That ascension has brought scrutiny. Some of it harsh, some of it deserved. <\/p>\n
In the 2022 play-off semi-final against Ukraine, Clarke’s team disintegrated on an occasion – just like this one – that meant so much.<\/p>\n
Two Euros have drifted by without a glove being laid on any of their opponents. Just three goals were scored across six games.<\/p>\n
These examples stand as warnings from the past, but they should be used as motivators for the here and now. As if any were needed.<\/p>\n
The moral of all of this is that Scotland have so often failed to grasp the opportunity that they have clawed out for themselves. The moment has slipped away.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, this group has the chance to reach a World Cup. No strings, no what ifs. <\/p>\n
Denmark have been at five of the past seven World Cups but, just like their hosts, vulnerability is lurking. <\/p>\n
There is a weakness that was exposed by Belarus and which must be ruthlessly pounced upon. Conversely, signs of an intensity in Scotland’s second-half display in Greece surely must be replicated from the start in Glasgow.<\/p>\n
There is an overwhelming sense that Scotland’s fate on Tuesday does not depend on what the handy Danes do, but what Clarke’s team can conjure up and rouse from within themselves.<\/p>\n
The quality is there. The incentive is there. The opportunity is there. <\/p>\n
We are about to find out if the courage to take it is there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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