Scotland will “respect everyone and fear no-one” at EURO2024, says Clarke

The commencement of official press conferences on Thursday can only mean one thing: EURO2024 starts tomorrow, as Scotland take on Germany in Munich at 20:00 BST [21:00 CEST].

Scotland’s first major tournament since 1998 will see them take on the hosts in the opening game of the tournament, with more than 200k travelling fans expected to descend on the Bavarian capital ahead of kickoff.

What did Steve Clarke say?

The Tartan Army will be led into the tournament by Steve Clarke, who explained to reporters that he isn’t feeling the pressure of playing in the opening match because that’s just ‘the way he is.’

“We know it’s a big game, but for us it’s the opening match of a four-team section,” he suggested, but expressed an understanding that Germany will pose a real threat and a desire to get their home tournament off to a blazing start.

“One of the mantras I’ve always had is respect everyone, fear no-one,” Clarke said.

“They’re a good team. I think people are trying to talk them down a little bit. When the draw was made, I expected it to be a really tough game and nothing’s changed my mind.”

“Hopefully on the night we can show that we’re a good team as well… we believe we can get a result every time we go to the pitch – otherwise what’s the point?”

The 60-year-old confirmed that “everyone is fully fit, flying and desperate to be selected,” but noted that he can’t regulate how they’re dealing with any potential pressure associated with a match of this calibre.

“It’s difficult for me to do that, they have to do that themselves. Most of them have been involved in big matches before,” he suggested. He sees no signs of any cause for concern in their behaviour though, commenting that “there’s always an edge in training, but you expect that when you approach a big match and you’d be disappointed if it wasn’t there.”

What did Andy Robertson say?

Liverpool’s Andy Robertson hobbled off the pitch after just minutes of a Scotland training session earlier this week, but assured reporters on Thursday that he is “physically good, mentally good and looking forward to what’s ahead.”

While Robertson’s withdrawal was precautionary, the Tartan Army will be without a key figure in Lyndon Dykes. The forward has travelled to Germany as part of the team staff, and Robertson commented that it’s “great to have him here.”

“The day that he got his injury and the couple of days afterwards, it was difficult for the rest of the squad.”

“We’re delighted that he can be here, because not many could have done that with the emotions that he’s gone through in the last ten days or so,” he added.

In terms of the match against Germany, Robertson made it clear that he envisages Scotland to spend most of the game out of posession: “It’s not any secret that Germany will probably dominate the ball tomorrow.”

“They’re a possession-based team, and they’ve got probably the best midfielder in the world in Toni Kroos,” he commented.

“We have to be difficult to beat as well, we have to try and close the spaces and frustrate them as much as we can… we hope that we can do that, we believe that we can but it’s up to us to show it and Germany will be wanting to do the same.”

Watch the full press conference here