"This should stimulate or motivate young players to go out and become Scotland internationals in the future, said Clarke. Hopefully there is a legacy from this group of players to the younger generations and we don't wait so long to go to the next tournament and the next tournament. By the way, it is more difficult to qualify for the World Cup than it used to be. If you look at the stats, it is really difficult to qualify."
"It is incredible, even [versus] when the boys went to France '98. There were 15 European teams in a 32-team tournament. That is almost 50%. But this one is 16 out of 48, almost a third. You see the World Cup getting bigger and you think: It must be easier to get there.' But it is not, it is more difficult to get there."
Scotland defeated Denmark 4-2 at Hampden Park to qualify for the men's World Cup for the first time since 1998. The qualification is expected to stimulate young players and create a legacy that accelerates future tournament participation. Qualifying has become more difficult despite tournament expansion; European representation fell from 15 of 32 teams in 1998 to 16 of 48 in the current format, reducing the proportion of European slots. An emotional pre-match team speech galvanized players, staff and families. Manager Steve Clarke drew on personal World Cup disappointments from 1990 and 1998 as motivation and inspiration for the squad.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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