Liverpool's Robertson urges Scotland to play without fear against Swiss

Robertson and company froze in the spotlight during the tournament opener on Friday as hosts Germany powered to a 5-1 victory. It was Scotland's second largest loss at a major tournament after their 7-0 defeat against Uruguay at the 1954 World Cup.

The Scots have embarked on several days of soul-searching at their training base since that humiliation in Munich. Robertson's biggest takeaway from meeting with boss Steve Clarke and the rest of the squad was that they must not let the occasion get to them as they fight to stay in the tournament.

"The other night wasn't easy. We came up against a really good team, didn't show up how we wanted and got punished for it. Maybe we had a bit of fear," Robertson told reporters on Tuesday. "Maybe the occasion got to a couple of us, a couple of us didn't have our best games. We didn't do what we did to get to the tournament.

"There were a lot of disappointed faces. But we moved on. We can't dwell on it. We weren't pointing fingers at anyone. "We need to show up, play to our strengths and do better in pretty much every area." Liverpool left-back Robertson is confident Scotland can keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stage of a major tournament for the first time, even if the frustrated Tartan Army might be losing faith.

"We know what we have to do differently. Maybe people on the outside don't hold much hope for us but we have a firm belief we have quality in our squad," said Robertson, whose team have one win in their last 10 games. "We showed that in the qualifying campaign. Hopefully tomorrow people will see the Scotland we believe in.

"It's a fantastic tournament. We want to enjoy it as much as we can. We've got two games left to stay in it." Scotland won 1-0 against Switzerland in the group stages at Euro 1996, a result that remains their most recent victory in a European Championship. With the best four third-placed team in this edition able to qualify for the knockout stages, Clarke knows another win over the Swiss would put his team back in the hunt.

Even a draw could be useful depending on Hungary's result against Germany on Wednesday. Calling on his team to erase the bitter taste of the Germany defeat, Clarke said: "For us, it's to regroup and go again. It's that simple.

"Going into the game thinking you only need a point is dangerous. It's about doing better, working better in the game. We thought we were well prepared for Germany. Obviously we weren't. This time, I think it's better not to say too much."

 

June 18, 2024