Scotland midfielder James McArthur believes doing the double over Croatia will mark a return to respectability for the national team.
The Scots host Igor Stimac’s side at Hampden tomorrow night in the final World Cup qualifier and McArthur feels that if they can add to the away win they grabbed in Zagreb in June then the football world will sit up and take notice.
The Croats come to Glasgow on something of a downer having lost at home to Belgium on Friday, a result that sent their opponents on their way to Brazil as Group A winners.
They are in the play-offs instead and could decide to rest players such as star man Luka Modric.
Whatever way the opposition decide to play it, McArthur is desperate for a victory that will build on the recent improvement in Scotland’s performance level.
The Wigan man, who joined his Scotland team-mates around the television to see the Belgians’ 2-1 success, said: “I think watching them on Friday and realising we beat them the last time has made us want to get the two wins over them.
“That would be unbelievable for us against such a high-ranking team as Croatia. It would put us back on the map as a side that other teams will come here and fear as they used to do.
“As we didn’t have a game on Friday we have had a lot of time to work towards this particular match, which is good. Hopefully, we can take the things that the manager has shown us into the game.”
McArthur isn’t convinced that the defeat will deflate the Croats and he stressed they have a squad packed full of talent.
“They are professional enough and they have top pros in their side but I am not sure how the Belgium game will affect them,” he said.
“I think they will be coming here to win and trying to end their campaign on a bit of a high,” added McArthur.
“Obviously they haven’t qualified (as group winners) but they will still want to win on Tuesday.”
Should Modric collect a booking against the Scots he would miss the play-off game so may not be risked by Stimac.
However, McArthur said: “I would rather he did play as you want to face all of their top players, don’t you? Modric is unbelievable.
“In fact, they have Champions League players throughout their team. They have boys who are playing week in, week out for top, top clubs.”
While their opponents may yet make it to Brazil, for Scotland the focus is beginning to turn to the next European Championship qualifying campaign.
As any Tartan Army foot soldier can tell you, you have to go all the way back to the 1998 World Cup in France for Scotland’s last involvement in a major finals. Indeed, McArthur was a mere strip of a lad when he went on a day out to the pictures to watch Craig Brown’s team open the tournament against Brazil in Paris.
“Hopefully we can do what we have not done for a right few years and get to a finals,” said McArthur.
“The last one I can remember was when I was growing up as a kid so it would be good to give the fans that experience again. I was only 11 and in primary seven and we actually went to watch the full Brazil game at the cinema at Parkhead!
“That was my first big memory of watching Scotland. I remember at the time how excited everyone was, how it captured the imagination of everyone in Scotland.
“We have had players over the past few years who have not experienced that feeling. That is a big thing for us as players. You want to go to World Cup finals, you want to get to European Championships.
“We are all looking forward to the next one now. I think we have been building towards that. We feel we are at a stage now where we feel we can try and put up a serious challenge to qualify. I think the fans can see it.
“You can tell from the reaction of people that we are making progress. Rather than tip-toeing around things they are saying well done, everyone is in an upbeat confident mood.
“Victory over Croatia would take us another step in the right direction and we want to finish on a high for the fans as well.”