Liverpool and Scotland legend challenges Steve Clarke and his gamers to turn into nationwide heroes
Sir Kenny Dalglish counts himself extraordinarily lucky to have represented Scotland at three World Cup Finals. Yet, he nonetheless lives with a nagging sensation that the result of these main match appearances might’ve been far completely different.
The Scots’ report look holder featured eight occasions on the largest stage in world soccer, scoring two objectives throughout the 1974 (West Germany), 1978 (Argentina), and 1982 (Spain) campaigns.
Criticism was aimed on the manner earlier Scotland squads ready within the leadup to these early World Cup appearances, however Liverpool nice ‘King Kenny’ insists there was no excuses for his or her failure to advance past the group stage. He has challenged present head coach Steve Clarke and his squad to turn into nationwide heroes by surpassing what many earlier than have been unable to obtain.
“We were prepared, all right,” stated Dalglish as he dismissed any notion that Scotland weren’t up to scratch. “It was just a huge disappointment for everybody that it didn’t pan out the way we would’ve liked. But there was nothing wrong with the preparation.
“We were hugely gratified to be there. My first experience of going to a World Cup was 1974 when we beat Czechoslovakia 2-1 here to get through. The qualification gave everybody great excitement, but we never did ourselves a favour with the results we came back with.
“I remember the situation with Zaire, coincidentally when the group went down to the last match and goal difference was going to decide it. Yugoslavia won 9-0… that doesn’t happen very often. So 74’ was a really difficult one. We never lost a game but we didn’t do enough to get through.
“Going beyond it, the qualification is something you can take immense pride from. We never did ourselves justice and we certainly didn’t do the supporters justice. The rules have changed now. Had there been three spots open to qualify, we might have got through. It definitely gives you a better chance, but you’ve still got to do it on the pitch and earn that right.”
Dalglish assesses Scotland’s World Cup possibilities
As for a parting message to Clarke and his squad, the 75-year-old declared: “They need to be proud of what they’ve achieved. Go out there, do as well as you possibly can and see what happens. If they can get through, it would be great for the whole country.
“The players can expect to enjoy it. When we were involved, we had that enjoyment but never the satisfaction because we didn’t produce what we were capable of. The games that we took points from were less expected than the ones we lost.
“Steve has done fantastically well to get us back to a World Cup, it’s a great achievement. I don’t think there’s any doubt about the progress they’ve made, even if they don’t do well in the World Cup.
“Of course, it’s going to be tough. Morocco have just been in the final of the African Cup of Nations, so they must be half decent. Brazil is Brazil, and Haiti… but there’s three chances of qualification from the group. Hopefully we can do it.
“It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing. With all due respect to Haiti, that is the game we will be expected to win. The other two on paper are more difficult games. But I’m sure Steve and his coaching staff will have them properly prepared and organised.”
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