CELTIC stars Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie and James Forrest are poised for a new Hampden experience this evening.
The Hoops trio will be involved in Steve Clarke’s squad for the Euro 2020 qualifier against the world’s worst nation, San Marino, with a 5pm kick-off – and they face performing in front of a record low attendance at an international game at the stadium.
Clarke’s shell-shocked players were on the receiving end of a four-goal Moscow mauling from Russia on Thursday night – their fourth successive loss in their qualifying section to torpedo any thoughts of qualifying for next summer’s Finals through group results.
The Tartan Army are about to deliver a massive thumbs-down and the SFA yesterday reported ticket sales of just over 10,000 — a figure that includes those who took up season-ticket packages at the start of the ill-fated campaign.
Scotland’s previous low crowd for a qualifier came in 1975 when just 11,375 turned out to watch a European Championships preliminary against Romania.
San Marino, decimated 9-0 by Belgium at the same time the Scots were being turned over in the Russian capital, are the lowest of FIFA’s 210 ranked national teams.