(Reuters) – Scotland coach Steve Clarke praised the progress his team has made after securing a place in next year’s European Championship with two games remaining.
Spain’s 1-0 victory over Norway on Sunday ensured that Scotland finished in the top two of Group A, securing automatic qualification for Euro 2024 in Germany.
For the second time in their history, Scotland has qualified for consecutive European Championship finals, the first being in the 1992 and 1996 editions of the tournament.
“I would like to congratulate the players for their efforts in qualifying for back-to-back tournaments,” Clarke said.
“I’m not sure they fully grasp the significance of their achievement yet, but qualifying for successive Euros after more than 20 years is incredible and a testament to their hard work.
“After Euro 2020, I stated that we wanted to become serial qualifiers again, and reaching successive Euro finals demonstrates the progress we have made.”
Clarke stated that they will celebrate their qualification before returning to work and preparing for the friendly match against France on Tuesday.
“Then we will focus on Georgia and Norway next month and aim to finish with as many points as possible,” he added.
Captain Andy Robertson, who withdrew from the national team’s camp due to a shoulder injury after the 2-0 defeat to Spain, described it as a “mission accomplished.”
“Euro 2020 was a fantastic experience, and our objective for next summer is to build on that previous experience and improve our overall performance in the tournament,” added the defender.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
