Darren Fletcher aims for Scotland win
Scotland captain Darren Fletcher is demanding a win in the national team’s UEFA 2012 European Football Championship qualifying match against Liechtenstein tonight.
The Hampden clash follows a 0-0 draw in Scotland’s opening match of the campaign against Lithuania on Friday. The Manchester United midfielder said that picking up three points is vital to the side’s hopes of making it to the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine.
Liechtenstein was beaten 4-0 by Spain and Fletcher believes that picking up a win against the Minnows, with matches against the reigning World and European champions and Czech Republic to come, is “imperative”.
The 26-year-old told Sky Sports that, "With respect for qualifying for Euros, then there can be no slip-ups. If we can get three points [against Liechtenstein] and then four points from the two games, then it's a satisfactory start and it's not too bad a position from then on. Anything other than that is disastrous towards qualifying.”
Fletcher will pick up his 50th cap tonight and will also captain his country for the 12th time. However, he insisted that any champagne celebrations for his personal milestones would be put on ice unless Scotland wins tonight’s match.
He said that: "I think that's the biggest thing when you represent your country — first and foremost is qualifying for a tournament. That's what all my focus is on and not selfish reasons trying to build up some more caps. Hopefully, with the three points and a nice win, I can look back and enjoy the fact that I've gained 50 caps for my country and be very proud of that."
Fletcher has spent his entire professional career at Old Trafford, after rising through the ranks at United’s youth academy. He has gone on to make 259 appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson and has won three English Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two Football League Cups, the UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup.
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