Steve Clarke hopes Scotland's 'big players' can make mark at Euro 2024

Steve Clarke hopes Scotland can show they have big game players when they open Euro 2024 with a game against Germany before facing Hungary and Switzerland.

The national team boss learned his side’s fate at UEFA’s draw for the finals on Saturday, with Scotland handed a glamour opening game at the Allianz Arena against the hosts.

While the fixtures have sparked excitement amongst the Tartan Army, Clarke kept his usual unflappable demeanour when he reflected on the draw.

“It’s good to know who we are playing and now we can start to prepare for fixtures,” he said. “You know me. I don’t get too excited or carried away.”

With the eyes of Europe on the opening game, Scotland could hardly have had a more high-profile game in the group stage and Clarke is hopeful his star players can step up to the occasion.

“Big players play in big games,” he said. “I say that all the time to them.

“So hopefully we show that we’ve got big players.

“For us it’s to be competitive and play as well as we can. We’ll count the points at the end of it and see where it takes us.

“First of all I’ve got to go away and do my homework and prepare for the matches, then we’ll see what happens next summer.”

🗓 The first dates to write in your 2024 calendar…#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/AENsYUX1ud
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) December 3, 2023

Before the manager turns his attention to studying the opposition, having had his full attention on the teams in the qualifying group up until now, he says he will speak to some of the key members of his squad to get their thoughts on the draw.

But Clarke is confident the anticipation is already building for the players and they will be counting down the days to the opening match.

“I’ll speak to a few of them and see how their mood is,” he said. “The players will be happy.

“They’ll be excited with the draw and they’ll look forward to the occasions the same as everyone else.”