Steve Clarke once got into trouble for losing his younger brother on a trip to see Scotland play England at Wembley.
The Scotland manager hopes to gain a lot more from the latest in the series of the world’s oldest international fixture.
The two teams meet at Hampden on Tuesday to mark the 150th anniversary of the first international – a goalless draw at the West of Scotland Cricket Club in Partick.
Clarke’s side go into the game on a high having won 11 qualifying matches in a row. Friday’s 3-0 victory in Cyprus made it five wins from five in the Euro 2024 qualifiers and kept open the possibility of Scotland qualifying on Tuesday.
But Clarke will put aside thoughts of Germany next summer as Scotland host a side who will provide a stern test of their recent progress, as well as sparking memories of previous meetings.
When asked for his own, Clarke referenced a famous Wembley win in 1977 and his own more difficult experience two years later.
Clarke said: “Gordon McQueen, header, the big man sadly no longer with us. I remember that one, he jumped so high, an incredible, incredible goal.
“I remember as a young man, the year Scotland fans got banned from going to Wembley, I remember being there. My sister and her husband lived in London at that time and he was in the Met Police so he managed to get a couple of tickets for us.
“I remember somewhere between the stadium and getting back to my sister’s house, I lost my younger brother Michael and my sister gave me an absolute hell of a time.
“But he turned up eventually. He jumped in somebody’s car and got a lift back, because the tubes were off, the buses were off, you had to walk. So he managed to get a lift off some random geezer and made his way back.
“I’d have been 16 at the time so Michael would have been 12, so I can understand now why my sister was so upset.”
Clarke stressed that the game means a lot to English football fans as well as Scots.
“They like to beat us,” he said. “Don’t make any mistake about that, don’t think it’s more important to Scotland than it is to England. Having lived in England for quite a long time, I understand it means a lot to them as well.
“The memories are great. I think we became world champions when we won in ’67, didn’t we? All those memories, the 9-3 game, maybe not such a good memory. There’s loads of memories and hopefully we can give them a few more.”
Clarke’s side held England to a goalless draw at Wembley in the European Championship finals in 2021 and he hopes Tuesday’s game will help his side prepare for some challenging competitive matches.
He said: “Certainly in my lifetime England have probably moved a little bit further in front. We are trying to close the gap on them and we will find out how much we have closed the gap.
“For us, it’s just about trying to continue to improve. I speak about it all the time, game to game. Obviously we played well in Cyprus, it was a comfortable evening and now we see what we can do against a team that’s nominally a pot-one team, always in the later stages of major tournaments.
“That’s the benchmark we want to judge ourselves against and we will find out how close we are.
“I’ve got some things I want to see on the pitch, testing ourselves against top opposition, which we are going to come across more often in the next 12-18 months.
“We play this game and then we go over for a very competitive game against Spain, and then we play France in a friendly. And then next year, after we have hopefully played at Euro 2024, we go into a Nations League group against another three of the top European sides.
“This is where we are as a team and this is where you have to challenge yourself and get better. I believe the more you play against the top sides the better you become. You might suffer a little bit at times but if you suffer in the right way, you can only improve.”
Scotland will qualify for Euro 2024 with three games to spare if Norway and Georgia draw with each other in Oslo at the same time as the Auld Enemy encounter but Clarke will not be seeking updates.
“I think the crowd might keep me up to date,” he said. “I won’t be monitoring it, I will be watching the game. That’s my job, not to worry about what happens elsewhere.”
Serie A side Genoa confirm sacking of head coach Gilardino
Serie A side Genoa have confirmed the departure of their head coach Alberto Gilardino, with Patrick Vieira reportedly on his way in.
Gilardino, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, leaves the club with them sitting just one point above the relegation size with 10 points from 12 matches this season.
A former striker who played for clubs including Genoa, Parma, AC Milan and Fiorentina, Gilardino took charge of Genoa in 2022 and helped them earn promotion to the top division before a 11th-place finish during the 2023-24 season.
"The club thanks Gilardino for the goals achieved together over the years and wishes him the best for his career," Genoa said in a statement.
The 42-year-old saw his side salvage a late 1-1 draw against Cesc Fabregas' Como in their last match before the international break.
Genoa were also knocked out of the Coppa Italia in the second round following a defeat to Sampdoria on penalties in September.
Arsenal legend Vieira is set to replace him, according to multiple reports.
The former France midfielder has been out of work since leaving Strasbourg by mutual consent in July.
Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid
NBA superstar Luka Doncic has backed Kylian Mbappe to "figure it out" after his underwhelming start to life at Real Madrid.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 16 games for Madrid in all competitions since joining as a free agent following the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
He has gone four matches without a goal – a run that includes losses to Barcelona and Milan – and has been left out of France's latest squad.
However, Dallas Mavericks guard Doncic – a Real Madrid supporter due to his previous ties with the sports club – can see Mbappe turning things around.
"Obviously [their season] could be better," Doncic told Managing Madrid after the Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
"But when you get a guy like Mbappe, it takes some time to get used to it. We'll figure it out."
Mbappe has scored six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances for Madrid but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.
The forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes for PSG in his last of seven seasons in Paris.
Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out in the league to return to winning ways but still trail leaders Barcelona by six points.
Asked about his connections with Madrid, former Los Blancos basketball player Doncic said: "I follow Real Madrid every time.
"I grew up there. They taught me everything, so it's a part of my life. You can call it a secondary home.
"I learned a lot of stuff there and, especially, they gave me a way to be here right now [in Dallas]. I always appreciate that 100%."
Madrid return to action after the international break with a trip to Leganes on Sunday.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
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