Scotland to prepare for Euro 2024 with friendlies against Gibraltar and Finland

By Sports Desk January 23, 2024

Scotland will prepare for the 2024 European Championships with a friendly double-header against Gibraltar and Finland.

Steve Clarke’s side will take on Gibraltar in the Estadio Algarve, Portugal, on Monday, June 3 before a send-off game against Finland at Hampden Park four days later.

It will be the last match action before the Scots head off to Germany for this summer’s Euros where they will face the hosts on June 14 before games against Switzerland and Hungary.

Scotland take on the Netherland and Northern Ireland in two March friendlies while Clarke also confirmed their team base camp for the Euros in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Clarke, assistant John Carver and performance director Graeme Jones visited the base camp last week, which lies at the foot of Germany’s highest peak, Zugspitze, and will be the squad’s headquarters for the duration of the campaign.

Scotland will stay at Obermuhle, a 120-room luxury resort that combines modern specification and alpine lifestyle with the tradition of being a family-owned establishment for the last century.

The team training ground is a short walk from the hotel and the delegation were greeted warmly by district administrator Anton Speer and Garmisch-Partenkirchen’s Mayor, Elisabeth Koch.

Clarke told scottishfa.co.uk: “It was important for us to finalise our preparations for Euro 2024 as soon as possible and I’m very pleased to have confirmed our final friendly matches and secured our first-choice base camp for the tournament.

“Garmisch-Partenkirchen will make for a comfortable base for our players and backroom staff for the duration of our stay at the tournament and the warm welcome we have received from the local community so far bodes well for when we are in camp there this summer.

“With Gibraltar and Finland confirmed as the final opposition before we take on Germany in the opening match of the tournament my players and coaching staff can now concentrate on ensuring we are in the best shape possible for it.

“I am particularly pleased that our final match before the tournament will be at Hampden and I am looking forward to experiencing what I am sure will be a raucous atmosphere in front of a full house of Scotland supporters that evening.”

Graeme Jones, Scottish FA performance director, said: “From the moment we qualified, Garmisch-Partenkirchen was our preferred location for team base camp and to be honest, I was more excited that the draw enabled us to have our first pick than I was at playing the opening match.

“The priority is making sure the players have the best preparation possible for the Euros and Obermuhle gives us a perfect balance of first-class facilities and a breathtaking, tranquil setting for the players to focus on the challenges ahead.

“The hotel staff, the Mayor and district administrator could not have been more welcoming during the site visit and now that the base camp is confirmed, we look forward to building up to the Euros starting with our matches against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland in March.”

Related items

  • Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders

    Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.

    With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.

    That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.

    Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.

    Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.

    The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.

    Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper

    Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.

    They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.

  • De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run

    Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed. 

    Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.

    Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.

    With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.

    There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.

    "We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.

    "At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.

    "Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."

    Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.

    Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.

  • PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon

    Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.

    A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.

    That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.

    However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.

    Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.

    Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.

    Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.

    With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.

    After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.

    PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.

    It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.