THE START OF AN ERA

Sebastian Zucchet

November 12, 2020. The day will go down in Scottish history after the country’s men's national team qualified for their first major tournament in over two decades.

It was a Euro 2020 playoff and Scotland had the daunting task of beating a talented Serbian squad in Belgrade. Ryan Christie put Scotland up 1-0 in the second half and it looked like the curse was finally going to be broken. But, in true Scottish fashion, Luka Jovic of Serbia scored an equalizer to prolong the match in the final minute. The game reached penalties, and all nine had been scored, until Scottish goalkeeper David Marshall made the crucial save on the game's final shot to win the penalty shootout and send the country into a frenzy. The match will go down in Scottish history as the game that opened the eyes of the soccer world. Soon, fans of the game began to realize that in the past few years, Scotland has done a great job in developing and restructuring their national team- with this generation of talent shaping out to be one of the best yet.

Manager Steve Clarke was hired in 2019, and since then has built up an impressive pool of young talent and veteran leadership. Clarke took charge when Scotland was in a tough place, having just experienced an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Kazakhstan in Euro qualifiers. Rather than likcking their wounds, Clarke and his management team began expanding their selection pool, looking far and wide for Scottish players playing outside the nation’s domestic league (Scottish Premiership) and even trying to find assets who weren’t necessarily born in Scotland, but were able to represent the squad while abiding the FIFA rules and regulations.

The rise of Scottish captain Andy Robertson and star player Kieran Tierney has paved the way for young players to take a chance, leave their Scottish academies, and take their talents elsewhere to get more first team football or even join a top European squad. Scottish clubs and academies aren’t necessarily terrible, but they don’t have the same amount of funding or exposure in comparison to their global counterparts. Scotland currently has three main players who have made the rare move at young ages.

Midfielder Billy Gilmour left his cobblestone streets to join the 2x European champions Chelsea at 17 years old. Gilmour has become one of the top talents to evolve out of Chelsea’s academy, impressing in every game he has played for both club and country, and even winning “man of the match” in a game against “Auld Rivals” England this past Euros. Gilmour has since gone out on a loan spell to Premier League bottomfeeder’s Norwich City, struggling with injuries despite being one of Scotland’s most promising talents the nation has seen in decades.

Aaron Hickey is a 2002 born defender who left Heart of Midlothian to join top flight Italian club Bologna in 2020. Quickly did the youngster become a first team regular and a top talent in the league. So far this season, Hickey has made 22 appearances for Bologna and has netted a handful of goals. Although he has yet to make his senior debut for Scotland, Hickey will certainly be in the running for the squad selection in March.

Nathan Patterson is the most recent Scottish player to make a move. This past January the 20-year old right back was purchased for an estimated $15 million by Everton and is looking to become one of the top cornerbacks in England’s prestigious league. Patterson was crucial in multiple matches during Scotland’s 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign, highlighting his statline by scoring a crucial goal against Moldova in November.

Scotland’s recent success and promising future has helped them externally pluck players from surrounding countries to represent the Scottish national team. Liam Cooper was born in Kingston upon Hull in England but was able to represent Scotland due to his grandfather’s birth certificate upholding Scottish descent. Cooper made his debut for Scotland in 2016 and since then has become a regular in the team’s lineup while simultaneously becoming a key player in the Premier League for his club team; Leeds United.

Funny enough, three of Scotland’s most important players aren’t even born in the country. Lyndon Dykes was born and raised in Australia to Scottish parents. While playing club football in Scotland, he was greeted with offers from both the Scottish and Australian national teams. With a tough choice in mind, Dykes decided to represent Scotland in honor of his parents, and since then has become a clinical goal scorer for the national team. Dykes scored four goals in four straight games near the end of the qualifying campaign, with three of those tallies being match winners. He has been in top form all year for both club and country, equipping fans of the game with the closest definition to talent.

Speaking of players in form for club and country, no one in the Scottish camp is as hot as Che Adams right now. Currently mitigating the attack for Southampton in the Premier League, Adams has scored seven goals in 20 matches for the club this season including one against Manchester United and a late winner against Tottenham. Adams had a choice of England, Scotland or Antigua and Barbuda, but felt he could establish himself more as a player in Scottish threads. He has played 12 matches for the senior team and scored five goals.

Manchester United star Scott McTominay was born in England but is eligible for Scotland through his father being born there, and has become a rock in Scotland's defense, even scoring a 95th minute winner against Israel in October 2021.

Steve Clarke has put together a team that has Scottish fans excited and optimistic for the first time since their last world cup appearance in 1998. The team now has Premier League superstars like Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, and John McGinn. Clarke had a bit of a tough choice to make every matchday when selecting his lineup with Robertson and Tierney playing in the same position, but now has the squad playing in a 3-4-2-1 formation to keep the pair connected on the pitch. The team has never lost when playing that formation.

Scotland has qualified for a World Cup qualification playoff with their first round match coming at home against Ukraine. With the way things are going for this team, we could be seeing the Tartan Army boogie their way into the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar next winter.