Scotland v Armenia

ALL THE PEOPLE
WHO LOVE THIS
SPORT KNOW
THAT THIS
COUNTRY IS ONE
OF THE PIONEERS
TO INVENT
AND CREATE
FOOTBALL.
AND WE MUST
BE GRATEFUL
TO SCOTLAND
FOR THAT
is excited by Armenia’s
inaugural fixture against the
Scots and with the match
being played at Hampden.
“Really, Scotland is a history
of football,” he said. “All the
people who love this sport
know that this country is one
of the pioneers to invent and
create football. And we must be
grateful to Scotland for that.
“Of course, we are looking
forward to playing at such
a legendary stadium as
Hampden Park. Certainly,
the stadium combines many
historical values as well as a
lot of emotions, which is very
important for spectators.
“We will try to demonstrate
a strong team performance,
knowing our deficits. But we
have a great desire to play
at a such a mythical stadium
with a such an atmosphere.”
Caparros recalled taking his
Seville side to Celtic Park on 25
May, 2005 where legendary
Swedish striker Larsson bid
farewell to the Celtic fans
after his testimonial match
with the Spanish side, which
ended 1-0 to the home side
in a game played in front
of a packed stadium.
He said: “I was Sevilla’s head
coach and we were facing
Celtic and I was greatly
impressed with the atmosphere
dominating at the stadium.
It was a nice experience. I
noticed that all the spectators
were in the team’s shirt.
“And in this regard I can
recall one story: after that
Sevilla’s management
organised our fans to come to
a game in Sevilla’s shirts.”
Just over 18 years later, Caparros
is back in Glasgow looking to
build on Armenia’s stunning
start to Group B1, which saw
them beat the Republic of
Ireland 1-0 on Saturday.
Scotland go into the game on
the back of their disappointing
HAMPDEN PARK / WEDNESDAY, 8 JUNE 2022
SCOTLAND v ARMENIA / 23