Don’t mess it up! Craig Burley warns Scotland before Euro 2024 opener

Craig Brown had a useful knack of relaxing Scotland players in tense situations. On 10 June 1998, Brown’s team opened the World Cup against all-conquering Brazil. Craig Burley takes up the story of what transpired as the teams prepared to take to the pitch at the Stade de France.

“That was one of Craig’s iconic moments,” Burley recalls. “We are lined up in the big, wide tunnel. We seemed to stand in there for an age. You could see everyone getting ready out on the field, preparing for all the razzmatazz. They held us in there for ages.

“Craig walked down the middle of the two teams, turned to Brazil, turned back to us and said: ‘Lads, look at them. They are absolutely shitting themselves.’”

Cue laughter from those in navy blue. Tension removed from the Parisian air. “Paul Lambert put it well, many years later,” Burley says. “He said: ‘The Brazilians were all holding hands. They were tanned, there wasn’t a hair out of place. They looked immaculate. And there was us, with Jim Leighton and Burley; nae teeth.’”

When Scotland arrive in Munich for Friday’s first fixture of Euro 2024, thoughts of 26 years ago are sure to emerge. Tony Blair, then the prime minister, had visited the Scotland camp the night before the game. Brown ensured Scottish music played on the team bus from their training base to the ground. Then, as on Friday, Scotland were at the centre of something special.

“I remember that bus journey,” says Burley. “The number of fans in the streets just got bigger and bigger and bigger. That’s when the scale of this will hit the Scotland players. There could be a queue of people running to the toilet on their bus. That’s when you start to think to yourself, even if you don’t admit it: ‘Right. Do not fuck this up.’

“You have got to be calm. It doesn’t matter if you are John McGinn, anybody in that team, you are going to be nervous.”

Scotland were expected to lose heavily to Brazil but gave the defending champions a scare. After César Sampaio handed the Brazilians an early lead, John Collins equalised from the penalty spot. Disaster struck for Brown’s men 16 minutes from time as a misunderstanding between Leighton and Tom Boyd resulted in the latter bundling in an own goal. Glorious failure, again.

“We were gutted, particularly about the way it happened,” says Burley. “You know you have to hang in, you know you aren’t going to outplay the Brazilians. It is important Scotland don’t do what we did in 1998, lose a stupid goal after five minutes, especially against a home side in Germany. That would just give them a level of momentum you do not want.

“I had Roberto Carlos coming directly at me. Every time I picked my head up, Ronaldo for some reason kept pulling on to Christian Dailly’s side. I was on the prayer mat on the other side saying: ‘Please just stay over there.’ Every time Ronaldo got on the ball he was beating four men – it was incredible.”

Scotland drew with Norway – Burley scored the goal – but collapsed in the final group fixture against Morocco and suffered an all-too-typical early tournament exit. Brazil reached the final, where they lost heavily to France.

Burley will look on from his home in the United States as McGinn et al look to hand the Germans a bloody nose. Now, as in 1998, Scotland are huge underdogs. The message from the former midfielder is to appreciate everything that takes place.

“Think about it: an iconic country in Germany, the hosts, a team with such a great history of success,” Burley says. “The atmosphere is going to be fantastic and you are opening the Euros. It doesn’t get much bigger or better. To open this tournament is absolutely huge. More people will watch this game than most of the others until about the semi-finals because it is such a big occasion.

“I hope the Scottish boys realise that, because looking back even now I think: ‘I wouldn’t mind doing that again.’ They aren’t starting against some nonentity team on the fourth day of the tournament. They are opening the European championship, in Munich. Fantastic. When some of these boys retire they’ll look back on this as the biggest moment of their career.”