Scotland v Spain: The Tartan Army are on the brink of an astounding evening in Andalusia

So can Scotland really do this? The glib answer is of course they can.

Since Steve Clarke took over as head coach, the upward trajectory for this Scotland team has been nothing short of incredible.

Countless talented players have come through generations of Scotland qualifying campaigns with, at best, a sorry story of what might have been.

Don Hutchison against England in 99, James McFadden in France, Leigh Griffiths and those free kicks at Hampden.

Big moments, great memories, events that had me out my seat and screaming, but ultimately they didn’t amount to a hill of beans when it came to propelling us to a major tournament.

All that changed with David Marshall’s penalty save against Serbia and continues to change with every single game since.

Yes, the Euros in 2021 were a bit of damp squib, but we’ve learned from that and supercharged the belief.

Five out of five in group A, 15 points in the bank and just a single, teeny weeny, point more required for Euro 2024 in Germany. So back to that first question.

Can we do this? Getting anything from a Spain team that took the beating from Scotland at Hampden in the spring, endured the pain and humiliation heaped on them from this huge footballing nation and then gone on to raze every team, every challenge since, to the ground.

This might be the same Scotland team, but it’s far from the same Spain team.

But, sing the Scotland fans, we’ve got McGinn, add in on-fire Scott McTominey, a keeper in Angus Gunn who’s not been anything other than a safe pair of hands, Billy Gilmour pulling the strings alongside Calmac in the middle and a Champions League winning skipper, Andy Robertson.

We’ve got all the ingredients to get that point and who knows, perhaps even pull off the shock of my lifetime and get one over the line in style. No play offs, no penalty shoot outs, no relying on favours.

Here in Seville more than 4,000 Scots have travelled, not in hope (well mostly in hope – lets be honest here) but also with confidence that this group of players can achieve the unlikely and make the impossible something we do more than once in every twenty odd years.

Come on Scotland, sing with me… “Ger-ma-knee, Ger-ma-knee, we’re the famous Tartan Army and we’re off to Germany…”