00:00Scotland have cancelled a friendly with Norway ahead of the 2026 World Cup over concerns for players' fitness and injuries.
00:09The friendly set to take place in America has now been cancelled ahead of the international tournament.
00:17The decision has sparked criticism from the Norwegian camp with the manager Stále Solbake who labelled the move as unprofessional
00:28and expressed frustration at the short notice.
00:31Norway had planned part of their World Cup preparation around the fixture with Scotland and have now been forced to
00:38alter their schedule following the cancellation.
00:43Scotland boss Steve Clarke has defended the decision, insisting the squad could not risk any further injuries.
00:51John McGinn, captain of Aston Villa, has also defended the decision. Here is what the Villa captain had to say.
01:00Our job is to look after Scotland. Norway's job is to look after Norway.
01:05And if they've done their research, we lost a very important part of the squad, very, very close to this
01:11camp.
01:12It had a huge impact on everyone.
01:16We didn't want to lose another. We've had a few niggles. Not everyone's been training.
01:21So I think it's a professional way of handling things, to be perfectly honest, and look after number one.
01:27And I'm sure every single country will be doing the exact same this summer.
01:34Like I said, Norway will be angry because they'll have their own plans they'd probably set up for that game.
01:41But if Norway lost Erlen Haaland or Martin Odegaard in one of the games leading up to Saturday, they would
01:49cancel the game as well.
01:51It's been amazing so far as an experience for the players, for the staff so far.
01:57In Miami, they acclimatised to some sort of humidity and heat, which we did.
02:02We missed the sun. The weather wasn't great, but the humidity was still there.
02:06So good exercises, good training.
02:09And then today, the humidity's a little bit less, but the heat is there.
02:13And we've prepared ourselves in the best possible way.
02:16And I think we've learned from the mistakes of the last major tournaments.
02:19And as a group, players, staff, everyone above that, we want to try and eradicate those mistakes and give ourselves
02:27no excuses.
02:31It's getting real. I think you see the fans are starting to travel.
02:35The airports are getting busier.
02:37You get photos from back home, albeit five hours later than normal.
02:41But it's exciting. I think everyone's excited.
02:44We are no different, but there's a steely focus about everyone.
02:49The gym was packed in there, which you maybe wouldn't have seen five or six years ago.
02:53So everyone's doing the right things, and we're ready for Saturday.
Comments