Craig Gordon out to banish bad memories against Slovenia
It takes longer than a decade to dim memories of destiny slipping from your grasp. Craig Gordon can still vividly recall the hurt.
On Sunday evening in Ljubljana, the Celtic goalkeeper will set out in pursuit of a very different outcome. The emotions of the past can provide a spur for the present.
With Scott Brown sidelined by injury, Gordon and Darren Fletcher are the only two survivors from the Scotland line-up which faced Italy at Hampden on November 17, 2007. Victory would have propelled Alex McLeish’s side into the Euro 2008 finals, ending a major tournament exile that has persisted since 1998.
Craig Gordon celebrates Martin Skrtel's own goal which gave Scotland victory over Slovakia
As it was, those aspirations ended amid painful acrimony when a controversial late free-kick helped the Italians to a 2-1 win. Despite defeating France home and away, Scotland found themselves locked out of yet another party.
The imminent assignment in Slovenia is not quite as cut-and-dried in its nature. Victory would all but book an appointment in the play-offs for Russia 2018, rather than the tournament itself. Nevertheless, the stakes at play are as big as any international in the intervening years.
Thursday evening’s dramatic late win over Slovakia left Hampden in a state of expectant ecstasy. Gordon, though, will not entertain any dreamy ideas of World Cup participation. Not while there is still so much to do.
‘I was involved when we played Italy and we didn’t manage to do it, so I know what that feels like,’ said the 34-year-old.
Gordon is beaten by Christian Panucci's late header as Scotland miss out on Euro 2008
‘I’d rather not feel that again. We’ve got it in our own hands but we’re away from home and Slovenia are a good team. It took us until very late in the game to beat them at Hampden.
‘We know we’ll have to play really well — probably better than we did against Slovakia.’
Scotland approach the challenge having not conceded in three games — against Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia. The last time the nation recorded four successive clean sheets during a qualification campaign was on the successful route to France 98.
Blanking out a Slovenia side in need of a miracle to enter the play-off equation would obviously get Gordon Strachan’s side halfway to success on Sunday. It is another assignment for the unlikely lads. Scotland have found some durability by defying the defensive norms of international football.
Gordon’s hard-won comeback from a career-threatening knee injury explains why he went seven years without starting a competitive international prior to facing England last year.
Gordon Strachan is bidding to take Scotland to their first World Cup finals since 1998
In front him, Strachan has settled upon a back four comprised entirely of left-footed players. Kieran Tierney switches flanks to the right to allow Andrew Robertson to flourish in his regular position. Between them stand Charlie Mulgrew and Christophe Berra.
Mulgrew has plentiful experience and ability but is currently playing for a Blackburn Rovers side sitting sixth in the third tier of English football. Berra is captain of a Hearts team that has amassed nine points from the first 24 available in this season’s Scottish Premiership.
On paper, these combinations shouldn’t really work. But they have.
‘That’s three clean sheets in a row for the first time since 1999, so that’s massive from my point of view,’ added Gordon. ‘That’s a good place to start to try and win any game.
Scotland celebrate after scoring late on to claim victory over Slovakia at Hampden Park
‘Against Slovakia, it took us until the last minute to find a way past their keeper, who was fantastic, so it was nice to finally get the ball behind him.
‘I would need to look it up to see when the last time we kept four clean sheets in a row was.
‘But we’ve been good at defending in the last few games. We limited Slovakia to few opportunities so it was a good performance from the defence to set the team up to go and try and win the game.’
Tierney was the only defender on Thursday evening who also started last October’ s 3-0 loss to Slovakia in Trnava. The transformation in personnel from that point — when qualification seemed all but a hopeless dream — has helped drag Scotland back into genuine contention.
Kieran Tierney was the only defender on Thursday who played in October's loss to Slovakia
‘We knew it was going to be difficult — and it’s still going to be difficult,’ argued Gordon. ‘We still need to go to Slovenia and win, and even if we do that, we’ll have a double-header (in the play-off) against another team that’s finished second in their group.
‘It’s still a fair distance away. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’ve kept it going to the last game and given ourselves a great chance, which is what we needed to do.
‘The atmosphere is great in the squad at the moment. To win a game the way we did against Slovakia is always going to help us bounce into the next game with an uplifting feeling.
‘We’ve used a lot of players. The squad’s turned around quite a lot throughout the campaign. We’re in a good place at the minute. We weren’t at our best against Slovakia but we got the job done. That’s a good sign.’
Charlie Mulgrew insists the whole Scotland side should take credit for recent clean sheets
Mulgrew insists the entire team must take credit halting the concessions after eight goals were leaked in the first four Group F games. With Slovenia also blanked out in March, only England have scored against Scotland in 2017.
‘We can’t do it alone as a defence,’ argued the 31-year-old. ‘It’s about the guys ahead of us working hard and making life easy for the boys at the back.
‘I enjoy playing with Christophe — he’s a top player. I enjoy playing alongside him and hopefully he enjoys playing beside me.
‘But you can go through the whole squad and find guys who have made a contribution at different times in the group. We all work hard to make each other’s job easier.’