Paul Lambert believes Scotland are capable of upsetting host nation Germany at this summer’s European Championship.
Scotland will travel to a second successive European Championship in the summer after an impressive qualification campaign under Steve Clarke, with The Tartan Army handed a tough group at the finals.
Clarke’s side will open with a clash against host nation Germany, before meeting Switzerland and Hungary in Group A.
Former Scotland midfielder Lambert believes the number of Scots representing top clubs shows the quality in the ranks and insists an opening upset is possible in Munich on June 14.
“If the national team is doing well you tend to find there’s a lot of good players in there. That’s what’s happening at the minute and it’s taken a long time to break that cycle,” Lambert told The Football Faithful, at an event hosted by BoyleSports.
“Andy (Robertson) is down at Liverpool, Kieran Tierney at Real Sociedad now, and John McGinn, (Stuart) Armstong at Southampton. It’s important that they keep carrying the can for it because those lads have all done great. That’s the pleasing thing about Scottish football at the minute.
“We’ve got a hard group in the Euros. The first game is a brilliant game. You’re opening up against the hosts. It will be great, the Tartan Army will go over in their thousands and absolutely milk it, win, lose or draw.
“Stevie (Clarke) and the lads will want to qualify, which is important, and Scotland won’t go over there to be the whipping boys. They’ll give it a go and will want to go through. Hopefully, they can.
“They deserve the moment to go toe-to-toe with Germany. The first game’s really unpredictable. Can they beat them? Yeah, they probably can. They’ll give it a go, that’s for sure.”
Scotland have been linked with looking to persuade several eligible English-born players to change their international allegiance, with Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes and Anthony Gordon among those of interest. Lambert believes securing the best available players is Scotland’s best route to success.
“I think it’s been like that for a while. If you’ve got great-grandmother or an uncle who has the ancestry. If you can, why not? Everybody else does it. If that’s the rule, then that’s the rule.
“Would it be ideal to have everybody Scottish? Yeah, probably, but that’s not the rule. The rule is you can be picked if your mum, dad or grandparents are Scottish, so the secret is to get the best players you can playing for your country.”
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