Scotland ALREADY qualified for Euro 2024 says Cyprus boss but group cellar dwellers hope conditions catch Clarke's men out
Scotland face off against the side who have zero points so far in the group.
Temur Ketsbaia insists Scotland have already booked their place at next summer’s Euro championships, writes Michael Gannon in Larnaca.
The Cyprus boss is looking to pinch points off Steve Clarke’s men in Larnaca this evening. But the former Newcastle United hero is convinced the Tartan Army can start packing their bags for Germany. Ketsbaia said: “Scotland have already qualified as far as I am concerned. I don’t know if they will win the group, but I am sure they will qualify. We have watched all their games and they have been better than all the opposition. They have 12 from four games on a very tough group, so they must be a very good team.”
Ketsbaia insisted he’s not shocked the Scots are topping the group ahead of Spain and Norway. He said: “I’m not surprised at this – when you see the quality of their players, many of them from the English Premier League, and the quality of the coach who has so much experience with big clubs and the job he has done, what they have done is not a shock.”
Ketsbaia is hoping Scotland will struggle in the scorching heat, with temperatures set to be over 30 degrees at kick-off. He said: “It’s not as hot as it was a few weeks ago, but we still hope that the conditions affect the Scots more than they do us. It’s always great to play in a full stadium, but we also know there will be a lot of Scottish fans here, as there always are when they come here, so maybe the whole atmosphere will be friendly to us.
“So we have a difficult match here, because the Scots deserve to be first so far. We’ve prepared as well as can and want to make a good game in a full stadium. We have no points so far, but we hope to start now. We’ve maybe been more defensive in our early games because of the opposition. Here at home we played more open against Georgia, when we deserved more from the game. Maybe it will be our night this time.”
Cyprus skipper Pieros Sotiriou insisted his side won’t be just looking to shut up shop tonight. He said: “The next two games with Scotland are Spain are huge challenges. For me, it’s the first time I will have played Spain, but I can’t think about that yet.
“We have nothing to lose. We will be a lot more offensive than in Glasgow and we hope to turn that onto a big result. The match will be very different from in Glasgow. We know our opponent, we know what to expect and it will all come down to details.”