This game on Tuesday night holds a massive significance, since it will be the 150th anniversary friendly of the oldest international contest.
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Whenever England take on Scotland, it is an occasion that will be savoured by both sets of supporters. It does not matter whether the fixture is a competitive one or a friendly game, neither side would not want to lose this one. As it happens, this game on Tuesday night holds a massive significance, since it will be the 150th anniversary friendly of the oldest international contest. hence, both sets of fans will be eager to emerge on the winning side from this clash.
However, since it is a friendly, some supporters might have wondered whether England would rotate the squad. However, coach Gareth Southgate has ruled out that possibility. “We have to find the balance of physical freshness, experience, finding out about players, winning and playing well. The usual expected of us with England. We can’t fiddle around with the team as we’re playing a top team at full tilt who will give us a high-level challenge. You can’t overly experiment as that would be ridiculous,” he was quoted as saying by skysports.com ahead of the match.
He added: “This is horrendous considering we’re playing Scotland tomorrow but I was supporting them in 1978 (at the World Cup) as we didn’t qualify, so I followed that trauma against Peru and Netherlands. And we were back in 1982 and from then onwards it was all about England. It’s a great fixture. I’ve met and worked with so many of the players from this fixture over the years. It’s a fabulous game. I know there is a rivalry and people will be worried about it crossing the boundary but it’s a brilliant sporting rivalry. It’s a great game to be involved in.”
Southgate wants his players to experience the challenge, as he feels this will be an occasion to relish. “We see it as a test of us as team, in an intimidating atmosphere. Those type of nights have been important to our progress, so it’s going to be great to find out about those who have yet to experience them. It’s a challenge we need to relish. We have to remind ourselves that we are all about the team and we need to show that,” he elaborated.
Meanwhile, Scotland head coach Steve Clarke believes it will be a competitive fixture. “It’s been 150 years in the making so they’re always good games, always competitive games. In the modern era certainly, in my lifetime England have probably moved a little bit further in front. We’re trying to close the gap on them and we’ll find out tomorrow how much we’ve closed that gap. It will be a competitive friendly, if you can have such a thing. I think both teams will want to win,” he stated.
“Obviously the boys from both sides interact with each other at different clubs. They come across each other all season so both sides want the bragging rights. We’ll try to take out of this game what we need to take out it so I’ve got some things that I want to see on the pitch, testing ourselves against top opposition, which we’re going to come across more often in the next 12-18 months. Gareth will use it the way he wants to use it. I don’t think it really matters how both teams set up or how both camps are once you get here, [with] the atmosphere of the game. They’ll be very competitive and it should be a good match.”
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