Saturday’s clash, between Scotland and Italy, will define whether or not the Scots qualify. Stomp victim – Scott Brown – asserts that the Azzurri are going to find it a hard time to front at Hampden Park. Despite such immense pressure to qualify, Brown is responding positively to such expectations:
“Our last few results have made us realise that we are capable of beating anyone on our day,”
“We’ve beaten France twice so why shouldn’t we be confident?
“Italy? They’re just another team – why should we be scared of them?”
“In fact, they should be scared of us. They have to come to Hampden and deal with us and deal with our supporters.
“I’m not sure that they’ll fancy it – I certainly hope they don’t. They’re going to have 50,000 Scots right in their faces and they know they’re going to have a helluva battle.
“These fans can make all the difference. They really are a 12th man for us and all the players appreciate the backing they have given us throughout the campaign.
“I don’t think we could have got this far without them.”
It seems that pre-match confidence is a popular trend in football – or is it only in Scotland? Apparently McGeady is the new Ronaldo, and Boruc is the new Buffon – only time will tell. However, the passion of the Scottish fans can not be questioned. Yet, the Azzurri are coming from Italy – so passion is ever-so present. Fans die and police hide in Italy, so if the match isn’t intense, then surely the post-match scuffles will be. Does Scotland’s Scott Brown have a legitimate claim? This is the the same Italian side which slyly sneaked through the World Cup, with a controversial, and somewhat undeserved, win against the men from Down Under, Australia. Can the Scots pull it off? Or is the Azzurri’s magic too powerful?