World Soccer - UK (2020-12)

Overview
Absent from every major international
tournament since the1998 World Cup
finals in France, the Scots have grown
used to looking dispassionately in from
the outside. Twenty-two years without
a sniff of the big-time inevitably has
left scars, with the pressure to deliver
increasing exponentially after every
abortive campaign. Hence the huge
sense of relief when they saw off Israel
on penalties at the semi-final stage.
Without playing particularly well over
the120 minutes, Scotland still managed
to keep their heads at the decisive
moment. Why wouldn’t manager
Steve Clarke feel optimistic that
a corner has been turned?
Serbia, boosted by a fine team
performance in the 2-1 play-off victory
in Norway in October, will start the
Belgrade showdown as favourites. They
will be playing on their own familiar
patch and are awash with top quality
in the attacking-third. So much so that
Lazio star midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-
Savic – who came off the bench to
score both his side’s goals versus
Norway – did not even warrant a place
in the starting line up. SMS surely will
be on from the off on D-Day at the

“Marakana” (the Red Star stadium).

Supporting Serbia comes complete with

a health warning. One moment, they

are purposeful and thrilling; the next,

disorderly and unfocused.

Key battle

Most games are decided in the muck

and sweat of the engine room and

in this final, much will depend on the

struggle for dominance involving Aston

Villa and Tartan Army favouriteJohn

McGinn and Serb dynamo Nemanja

Gudelj. Not only is McGinn Scotland’s

best chance of a goal (seven in 25

caps). He also powers forward and does

his fair share of dirty work. Gudelj, now

based at Sevilla following stints at Ajax,

Chinese outfits Tianjin TEDA and

Guangzhou Evergrande, and Sporting,

looks a player reborn, evidently keen

to cover every blade of grass.

Talking point

Many Scottish pundits remain

steadfastly unconvinced by Steve

Clarke’s decision to switch from a

four-man defence to a back three,

doubtful whether the Caledonian

boss has enough agile, ball-playing

defenders for such a system. The

Scottish back line tends to sit rather

deep, inviting persistent opposition

incursions. Serbia coach Ljubisa

Tumbakovic also uses a defensive trio,

with the highly-experienced captain

Aleksandar Kolarov stationed alongside

Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic and

Stefan Mitrovic of Strasbourg.

Serbia v Scotland

EURO 2020 PLAY-OFFS PREVIEW | PATH C

Midfield maestro...Serbia’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic

Winners...Scotland’s

players celebrate

beating Israel in

the semi-finals