Scotland manager Steve Clarke believes the pressure on his team has eased following their crucial victory over Haiti, a match widely seen as a must-win for the squad.
“I am absolutely delighted with my players. Resilience, character had to be on the pitch tonight.
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There is no relief. Everyone told us it was a must-win game and we won.
When you win a must-win game, you have to be happy with yourselves,” Clarke said, as quoted from The Guardian.
The narrow 1-0 win required a strong defensive effort in the closing stages. Clarke acknowledged Haiti's quality in denying Scotland time and space, making the match difficult.
“Towards the end, you know you are 1-0 up and have something to hang on to so that is what you do.
The players deserve a lot of credit. I thought Haiti were terrific at denying us time and space, which made it difficult.
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So the other characteristics that get you three points come out. That is why we are sitting here with three points and Haiti are empty handed,” he added.
Upcoming Challenges
Scotland is set to face Morocco and Brazil in their next group stage matches. Clarke believes the pressure will be less compared to the Haiti game.
“We go into them with less pressure than everybody put on to us going into this game.
If we defend as well as we did here, hopefully play a little bit better with the ball and create more, we will be OK.
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It’s not about raising the performance, it is about a different approach against a different opponent,” Clarke said.
