Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has made the tough decision to exclude veteran goalkeeper Craig Gordon and defender John Souttar from his final 26-man squad for Euro 2024. The squad must be trimmed from 28 players following Scotland’s friendly against Finland on Friday.
Scotland will face tournament hosts Germany in their opening match on 14 June in Munich. However, injuries have already forced Clarke to adjust his provisional squad, with Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, and Lewis Ferguson sidelined. More recently, Lyndon Dykes and Ben Doak also withdrew, prompting the call-ups of Tommy Conway and Lewis Morgan.
BBC Scotland reports that Hearts’ 41-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon is poised to make a farewell appearance against Finland at Hampden Park, which would be his 75th cap. Gordon has played just seven matches since recovering from a leg break in December 2022. Zander Clark has since emerged as the second choice behind Angus Gunn.
Rangers centre-back John Souttar, who has earned nine caps since his debut in 2018, is also set to miss out. Souttar missed the last three matches of the season due to injury but has been training with the national squad.
Clarke faced a challenging selection process, particularly with four goalkeepers and seven centre-backs in the provisional squad. Speaking at a media conference on Thursday, Clarke stated, “I’ve reached a decision. I haven’t had the conversation,” and acknowledged the difficulty of finalizing the squad: “Almost impossible, but that’s my job. I have to do it. It won’t be nice, it won’t be easy, but we’ll deal with that between now and the deadline.”
The official deadline for squad submissions is midnight on Friday, with the final selections eagerly anticipated by fans and players alike.
