Half-centurion ready for battle

Sports Writer

Sunday 12 August 2012

BARRING accident or injury, Gary Caldwell will win his 49th cap for Scotland at Easter Road on Wednesday night and enter the SFA hall of fame in the crucial World Cup qualifying tie against Serbia at the start of September.

Gary Caldwell is approaching the Scotland Hall of Fame

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Stewart Fisher

It is a fair old return, not least when you consider his first cap was a baptism of fire in St Denis which ended with David Trezeguet gesticulating in his direction with five fingers held up to represent the French goals which had rained in on Berti Vogts' side. Not least of the legends among whom Caldwell will take his place is Kenny Dalglish, the man who set the player on course for his career when he signed him as a teenager for Newcastle.

"It was probably the furthest thing from my mind when we were on the end of a 5-0 drubbing in the Stade de France on my debut," Caldwell said. "It has been a long road, lots of highs and lows along the way, but the nearer you get to 50 it becomes more real and it's something I've always wanted to achieve. To put my name in among the great names of Scottish football from the past."Everyone in the Hall of Fame is a great name in Scottish football but the one for me that stands out is Kenny," he said. "I signed for Newcastle under him and that was a big reason for me going there. Unfortunately he got sacked about five months after me going there but he's the one player in our history who's a legend throughout the world."Personal milestones and accolades are small beer compared to the short cut to posterity that would be taking Scotland to a major finals for the first time since 1998. The Australia match is the last friendly prior to the crucial home double header against Serbia and Macedonia early next month, and a chance to atone for the 5-1 defeat to the USA in Jacksonville which the Wigan Athletic defender hopes was a "kick up the backside at the right time". The Brazil 2014 group – which also includes Belgium, Croatia and Wales – has an attritional look to it, and Caldwell for one knows the virtue of getting maximum points on the board early. "Two wins are a must," he said. "We believe we can beat every team in the group at home and on the road we can take our chances and try to pick up points. Having played in a few campaigns now, the start is all important and if you can get a fast start, because of the number of games you're playing, it can be difficult for teams to catch you."If there is doom and gloom out there, Caldwell is having none of it. He feels the Olympics have shown how positive an impact participating in a major sporting event can have. "The group of players we have, around 20 to 30 the manager has now, is probably the best I've been a part of," he said. "Hopefully this is the time the country can get back to a major finals." "You see with the Olympics what a big event can do for the country," he added. "The kids have been fascinated and they love Andy Murray. I also loved watching Michael Jamieson in the pool, I was shouting when he was coming back in the 200m breaststroke chasing gold. Seeing sportspeople do so well can be a real lift for everyone. A World Cup Finals could do the same for us."The non-participation of Scottish players in the Team GB football side was a political hot potato but he tends to view it as a personal slight on the part of Stuart Pearce and the selectors. "The fact none of our guys were in Team GB football was disappointing from the point of view of the people picking the team," said Caldwell, who will renew acquaintances with his former team-mate Scott McDonald on Wednesday night. "They chose the guys they felt would do well but it would have been better to have players from Northern Ireland and Scotland as well."No more interventions from accident or injury can only help, of course. There was good news on that front this week with Darren Fletcher reporting for training with the Scotland camp as he continues his recuperation from a chronic bowel condition, while Steven Naismith scored a hat-trick in a pre-season friendly for his new club Everton against AEK Athens as he recovers from a cruciate knee injury problem. "I was at Blackpool watching him [Naismith] and he's not 100% yet but the more games he plays, the better he is going to get," said Scotland manager Craig Levein, as he launched the performance schools programme. l Tickets for Scotland v Australia are available on 0844 248 5155, at the Hibernian FC ticket office and via www.ticketmaster.co.uk

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Half-centurion ready for battle

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