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SCOTLAND are confident they can turn good play into goals in Tuesday’s must-win meeting with Croatia at Hampden, says defender Liam Cooper.
Steve Clarke’s side are the only nation yet to score at Euro 2020.
Scotland and Croatia both need victory, while Group D rivals England and the Czech Republic are through already.
“We’ve had 30 shots; we just need someone to step up and put the ball in the back of the net – and I’m sure we will do that,” said Cooper.
“We created a lot of chances against the Czech Republic and England. The strikers have confidence in themselves and if they keep getting the chances one is going to go in when we need it more than anything.”
Scotland and Croatia each have a point after two matches while England and the Czech Republic are on four points prior to their meeting at Wembley.
The top two from each group go straight through and they will be joined by the four best third-placed teams.
A win over Croatia would guarantee one of those third-place spots for Scotland and second is possible if England lose to the Czechs at Wembley and Clarke’s side make up a current goal difference of three.
Scotland cannot leapfrog the Czechs since head-to-head is used before goal difference.
No Gilmour for Scotland
Scotland are without midfielder Billy Gilmour after the Chelsea midfielder tested positive for Covid-19.
The 20-year-old had turned in a man-of-the-match display in Friday’s 0-0 draw with England at Wembley, his first international start.
Gilmour is the only absentee, with Kieran Tierney expected to carry on in defence after playing the full game against England, having missed the opening defeat to the Czech Republic with a calf problem.
“We’ve been playing the same system for a long time now,” explained Cooper. “Whatever player comes in knows their role, what they need to do. That’s what we’ve worked towards the last few games.
“We go and play our game. We work hard for each other, be humble and try to beat Croatia. That’s what we need to do.”
Rangers full-back Borna Barisic is with the Croatia squad after missing the first two games of the tournament with a back injury but is short of fitness.
Croatia will be patient – what the managers said
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke: “If we keep creating the chances and having shots at goal that we’ve had in previous matches then you’d like to think that lady luck will be on our side for at least one of them.
“Obviously Croatia are the favourites – finalists at the last World Cup. We will have a little bit of an advantage in that we will have a home crowd. But the Croatian players will be able to deal with that atmosphere.
“We go out there determined to give our best performance.”
Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic: “We are at a real disadvantage without our fans because with them we’re way stronger, way better, and I’d say this is not really fair. Nonetheless we are a really motivated team but we see the Scottish team as very good as well.
“We won’t repeat the first half against the Czech Republic when we wasted so much energy. We have to change approach, be more patient, build our attack, because we have the quality.”
Match stats
- Scotland have never lost to Croatia (W2 D3).
- No game between Scotland and Croatia has produced more than two goals.
- Scotland have only lost one of their past nine matches at Hampden Park (W5 D3), although it was the tournament opener against the Czech Republic.
- In their previous five European Championships, Croatia have alternated between progressing from the group stage (1996, 2008 and 2016) and going out at the group stage (2004 and 2012).
- Scotland have never progressed beyond the group stage at a major finals (eight World Cups, two Euros).
BBC Sport
– June 22, 2021 @ 08:28 GMT |
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