Craig Gordon insists Scotland should not fear Croatia – as the national side has to be inspired by the Balkan big shots.
Steve Clarke’s men are fighting to hang on to their place among Europe’s A-listers in the Nations League and need to win Hampden on Friday night and then follow it up in Poland on Tuesday. Gordon knows the Scots face a formidable challenge against a similarly small country that has made a habit of qualifying – and competing in the latter stages – of major tournaments.
And that is the dream for Clarke and his players as they look for a boost to take into next year’s World Cup qualification bid. Hearts keeper Gordon said: “To do as well as they have, but not only that, for as long as they have, it’s not just one team. They’ve managed to reinvent that team and players that have come into that squad. You have also got the experienced group who, a lot of them, have around 100 caps.
“They have replaced within that really well. It’s not luck, it’s not one team, it’s something that they have managed to keep doing. That has to be what all the smaller nations, the smaller populations, can aspire to and show what is possible.
“They have been right to the end of finals, not managed to win one, but they have been there or thereabouts on quite a few occasions. That would be the best case scenario for a lot of smaller nations. We have to look to that as an inspiration and try and get there.”
Scotland are winless in Group A1 with just two matches to go. It’s been a rough 12 months with just one win – against Gibraltar – in their last 16 games including a desperately disappointing Euro 2024 championship.
Eleven of those 16 games have come against higher-ranked sides though and Gordon is convinced Scotland are not far off competing with the big guns. Ahead of the crucial showdown against Luka Modric and company at the National Stadium, he said: “We’ve been quite close in a lot of our games.
“It’s been very fine margins between getting more points than what we actually have. If we can come out on the wrong side to learn and adapt, and be able to come out on the right side of them a bit more often.
“I think if we can do that, then we can maintain our spot at this level, and compete against anybody. We’ve shown that in individual games, and it’s about doing that more often. If we can do that more often, then I do think we can stay at this level, maintain where we are, and look to win more matches at this level.”
The veteran keeper hasn’t given up hope in staying in the elite groups for the Nations League – and boosting the country’s qualifying seeding for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Gordon said: “We’ll be out to give everything in this first game, to give ourselves the opportunity in the second game in Poland.
“It’s everything we’ve got Friday night to try and make that possible, to try and keep us in the group, and put us in a good position going into the last game against Poland. We know how good it can get when we’re on a good run.
“How the fans have got behind us, how good it can be playing here at Hampden when we’re on those good runs and getting good results and showing what we are capable of. We know we can do that, we’ve done it in the past, we’ve done it in the last few games.
“If we can get the points to go along with that, then it starts to maybe change people’s minds, and get them a bit more positive about the national team again. We want to carry that forward into the World Cup and beyond.”