How Can Scotland’s National Team Benefit from the Delay of Euro 2020?

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, UEFA decided to postpone Euro 2020 until the summer of next year. For Scotland’s national football team, this can be a chance to qualify for its first big tournament in a long while. The last time Scotland participated in a major football championship was in 1998 in France. 

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The Scottish team was about to have a game at Hampden with Israel in the Path C semi-final when the football authorities decided to suspend all the matches all around the world until further notice. This decision was made to help stop the spread of COVID-19. According to UEFA, the new approximate date when the final qualification matches for Euro will continue is June 4th, 2020. 

However, some medical experts have predicted that the pandemic’s progression will not have reached its peak in the United Kingdom by that time. If these forecasts are correct, there will be no chance for the games to restart as planned.

Kevin Gallacher, a former player of Newcastle United, Coventry City, Blackburn Rovers, and Dundee United, who won 53 caps for Scotland and participated in the Euro 2000 play-off against England, admitted that he thinks the postponement of Euro 2020 can be beneficial for Steve Clark and the Scottish football team. 

The Aston Villa midfielder, John McGinn, who scored seven goals during the qualifiers, has to stay on the sidelines for a while due to an ankle injury. He, as well as Kieran Tierney from the Arsenal, who has a shoulder dislocation trauma, has not yet played this year. Both players were supposed to miss the match with Israel.

Scott McTominay only played three times for Manchester United this year after his recovery from a knee trauma. McTominay suffered from knee ligament damage when he played against Newcastle United on the 26th of December last year. 

Kevin Gallacher, currently working as a co-commentator for BT Sport and the BBC, mentions that he saw all these players in action.  He is confident that having them in good health and back on the team for the qualifying matches will significantly raise Scotland’s chances to do well in the tournament. Gallacher stated that this unexpected break gives the players an excellent opportunity to get back to a fit state again. He also mentioned that Israel would most likely also benefit from the gap and get a few people back in the game.

Gallacher also added that Steve Clark should be able to get men who had the opportunity to train and play regularly when the time for the match comes. Having such well-prepared players in the team next year will have a substantial positive impact on the process of Scotland getting to the finals.

It has been a while since the Scottish national football team had top players at English clubs. However, nowadays, it is the case. Gallacher shares that it will be in the national team’s favor and will help them bolster their team on an international scale.