THERE could well be several David McAllisters inside Borussia Dortmund's Westfalenstadion when Germany and Scotland begin their qualifying campaigns for Euro 2016.

Presumably only one, however, will be rooting for a home victory. And definitely only one whose diverse, multi-cultural upbringing included reading Oor Wullie annuals alongside his native German textbooks.

The David McAllister in question, then, is an intriguing character. Born in West Berlin a decade after the wall went up, the 43-year-old is viewed as a rising star within German politics. Once tipped as a potential successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel and the former prime minister of Lower Saxony (a German state of eight million people), he is now a Member of the European Parliament in Brussels and still a leading figure in Germany's centre-right Christian Democrat party.

It is the name and background, of course, that make McAllister stand out. His father James was born in Glasgow and fought in World War II with the 51st Highland Division, eventually returning to Germany after the war as a civilian with the British military.

There he met and married a German woman, Mechthild, the pair dotting around the country before settling in Berlin where David was born. "We spoke both German and English at home," McAllister told Herald Sport. "My mother would speak German with us and as soon as my father was in the room we would just all change to English."

Being of dual nationality has never done McAllister any harm in a country where the Scots are largely viewed with warmth and affection. McAllister wore a kilt to get married to his wife Dunja, is said to enjoy a glass of Irn-Bru, and became known simply as Mac when the locals struggled to pronounce his surname.

"I've been asked so often, 'you're a Christian Democrat, have you ever had any disadvantages because of your surname?' And of course McAllister isn't a German name and a lot of people have difficulty pronouncing it. I spent two years in the German army doing my military service and it was a strange combination being called Panzerschuetze [tank gunner] McAllister! But I've never had any problems because of my name. Everyone is usually quite interested in it."

His father died in 1990 but his influence still shapes McAllister's life to this day. The pair shared a love of football, with McAllister recalling one Saturday night tradition from his childhood.

"My dad was a Queen's Park supporter as he grew up on Ardbeg Street near Hampden Park," he added. "Even when he moved to Germany he still stayed a big fan.

"Every Saturday evening he would turn on the British Forces Broadcasting Service radio station and it was always the classified football results read by James Alexander Gordon. And he would have to be patient as they would read out the results from all of the English leagues before they got on to the Scottish league.

"At that point he would turn up the radio a little bit louder. And eventually after the Scottish Premier Division and the First Division results they would finally get to Queen's Park and he would cheer or groan depending on how they got on.

"I always found that so amazing. He probably hadn't been to Hampden Park for 25 years but he still wanted to know how his team had got on. That's probably how I first got to learn so many Scottish place names, thanks to James Alexander Gordon."

McAllister, though, chose to follow a different Scottish club from his father. "I had the honour of meeting the Rangers team a few years ago when they were still in the Premier League," he added.

"They were at a training camp in Lower Saxony and they gave me a call. I got my picture taken with Ally McCoist and all the team and in my small flat in Brussels I have it framed and hanging up in the living room. What happened to them when they went to the bottom division was a big shock to football fans everywhere. I don't recall anything like that ever happening in Germany. Certainly not to a club of that size."

His local team is Hannover 96, a legacy from his days as a student then politician in the northern German city. "My hometown [Bad Bederkesa] is on the North Sea coast so we're actually nearer to Bremen and Hamburg. But we belong to the federal state of Lower Saxony and the capital is Hannover. I studied there, was an MP there for 14 years and had the pleasure also of serving as the prime minister for three years.

"In Hannover as a student I went regularly to watch the team, and as prime minister - which would be the equivalent of Scotland's first minister - I tried to go a few times a year. I also went once in a while to watch the other team in Lower Saxony, Eintracht Braunschweig. There's a big rivalry between the two clubs so as a politician you are well advised to go to both! But my team is Hannover 96."

He is also a keen supporter of the German national team and, like the rest of the country, basked in the glory of their recent World Cup success. Matches between Scotland and Germany have provoked mixed emotions but there was one occasion when both parties ended up smiling.

"I remember when Scotland qualified for the 1992 European Championships and were in Germany's group. In the last game Scotland beat the old Soviet Union [the CIS] and Gary McAllister scored one of the goals. That result meant Germany qualified for the semi-finals. I always remember the headline in one of the German newspapers the next day read: "Thank you, Scotland!" Because if Scotland hadn't helped them by winning we would have gone out."

And what of the game tomorrow? McAllister might be loyal but he is smart, too. "There has been a lot of talk about this game and of course people always want to know which team I will be supporting.

"I am a German politician so that is probably obvious. But I am also a diplomat. My diplomatic answer then is that I want both Germany and Scotland to qualify for the finals in France. That would be the perfect outcome."