Scots can reach France 2016 in second place in group, says Sky Sports pundit
Friday 5 September 2014 14:48, UK
Scotland kick off their European Qualifiers with the toughest possible test against world champions Germany in Dortmund on Sunday night. Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness can’t see Gordon Strachan’s side getting a result, but says the new-found belief in the squad may see them get out of the group...
Gordon Strachan has done remarkably well with what you would have to say is a limited group of Scotland players.
They are unbeaten in six matches and victories over sides like Croatia, who are among the top sides in the world, will do wonders for confidence. They are playing with belief and believe in what their manager is telling them to do.
I can see them going to Germany on Sunday night and being difficult to beat, but the quality of the German group means that somebody will get to them in the end.
Scotland can’t go and sit on their own 18-yard box for 90 minutes because that will be asking for trouble. They have to try and get out and I expect Gordon to play 4-5-1 with midfield players being asked to join up with a lone striker when they can.
Every team in that group will find life very difficult when they go to Germany. You might be able to take something off them on your own patch, but Republic of Ireland, Poland and the rest will all struggle in the away games.
However, I do think Scotland have a chance of finishing second in the group and I’d say it’s between them and Ireland.
You can’t write Poland out of it, though, because they’ve got Robert Lewandowski and they won’t need to play well to win when you’ve got someone as special as him in the side.
I would love to think Scotland can get that second spot because there’s not a lot between those three teams. It will all come down to what happens when they play each other.
We’re all hoping that Gordon can finally make that breakthrough and get Scotland to a major tournament once again.
As for Germany, there’s no doubt they were the best team at the World Cup and the most deserving team to win that competition.
I like the way the play and the fact there’s no antics from them. There’s no rolling about or trying to get other players in trouble, so I was happy they won it.
Even though Philipp Lahm, Miroslav Klose and Per Mertesacker have retired and Bastian Schweinsteiger is currently injured, they are still one of the teams to beat, if not the team.
You can’t say any team will go on and dominate for years to come because four years is a long time in football, but I don’t believe the Germans do complacency. Just look at what they have done in recent history, reaching the semi-finals of four World Cups in a row.
They lost 4-2 to Argentina in midweek, but that will have no bearing on what happens against Scotland on Sunday. International friendlies are way behind competitive internationals in terms of pace and aggression, so you can’t look at that game and say they there’s any obvious weaknesses.
That game was like a testimonial and, understandably, it was a perfect game for Joachim Low to look at some younger players and fringe players.
It will be a different Germany on Sunday night, full of aggression and something like the one we saw at the World Cup. You would expect them to break through the Scotland resistance eventually.
Graeme Souness will be part of the Sky Sports team for our live coverage of European Qualifiers this Sunday evening - including Germany v Scotland - on Sky Sports 5.
