Steven Naismith: bring on Germany

Steven Naismith claims Scotland will be catching Germany at precisely the right time when they go to Dortmund at the start of September.

The Euro 2016 qualifier will be the first fixture for Joachim Low’s men after tonight’s World Cup Final against Argentina.

And, if the bookmakers are correct with their assumptions, that will mean Naismith and co kicking off the campaign to reach the Euro finals in France against the newly-crowned world champions.

“Germany away was always going to be the hardest game for everyone in the group and that will be the case,” said the Everton striker.

“They have quality players all over the park: Manuel Neuer, Thomas Mueller, Phillip Lahm, the list goes on, and as a unit they are so well organised. But for me it’s good to get them early. I prefer it that way.

“If they’ve won the World Cup then they could well suffer a wee bit of a hangover afterwards. It is something you see in club football. Teams fall out of their usual rhythm and drop points as a result.”

This, he argues, is where Scotland’s failure to qualify for the big event could actually work in the country’s favour.

“Unlike Germany, we have been building towards this match ever since Brazil was out of our reach,” he said.

“And hopefully we will be hitting our peak at that time. We will be into our own season by then and the players will be right up for it. We are not expected to win but that’s okay. That is good in fact.

“Listen, we have had a great 18 months with Gordon Strachan. The manager’s knowledge of the game is fantastic so the longer we have him the more we’ll progress.

“You just need to look at the results we have picked up, the wins against the likes of Croatia, Macedonia and Norway, to see that.”

The 27-year-old has even picked out what he thinks could be an area of vulnerability in a side that demolished Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup semi-final.

“I’ve played against Per Mertesacker for Everton against Arsenal in the Premiership and really enjoyed it,” he said with a wry smile.

“It was at Goodison Park in a game which saw me used as a false No. 9. I was right up against Per and scored and did well in a game we won 3-0. Per is definitely no mug he wouldn’t be in line to get a game in the World Cup Final if he was.

“So to perform well against him in a club match does give me confidence I could do the same in an international. Certainly, I’d settle for the same result and performance against him in September!”