ARCHIE TELLS HIS KIDS TO KEEP COOL

ARCHIE GEMMILL has ordered his Scotland kids not to fall for Portugal's play-acting tactics as they kick off their European Championship group in Szamotuly tonight.

The Under-19s boss is aware of their opponents' reputation for diving and gamesmanship which was enhanced by Cristiano Ronaldo's antics during the World Cup in Germany.

Despite facing one of the favourites to lift the trophy, Gemmill will instruct his players not to react to any dirty tricks.

He said: "They have been told to shut up and they're well aware of what's expected as we've been telling them that since we arrived.

"It's absolutely stupid to end up getting booked for talking back to the referee.

"The diving has been in the game since the days when I played and that's a long time ago. My players are very well disciplined and if the referee gives a foul then we just need to get on with it as he isn't going to change his mind.

"They can dive all they want and the ref can gives fouls all day long but if we moan about it we'll get players booked and then if we have a bad tackle we'll have players sent off."

Portugal's pedigree at youth level is unsurpassed but Gemmill believes his babes have nothing to fear.

He said: "Last year we played them in back-to-back games - we won the first and they won the second. They're a typical Portuguese team who have a bit of pace about them.

"They have tricky wide players but I don't think they have anything we should be unduly worried about. On the day, you never know with 19- year-olds but they have given me every ounce of energy in the past year and I don't see it changing now."

The Scots have already experienced problems here, having to train on a rutted surface, although Gemmill insisted that will be the least of their worries with temperatures expected to be in the high 20s during the game.

He said: "We'd have liked it a bit cooler but we'll just get on with it.

"The training pitches problems have been sorted out. I'm trying to keep things as low key as possible and the build-up will only start when we're about to play the game.

"This is a group of levelheaded young lads who just get on with it and do everything that's asked of them.

"It's a big thing for them and when you look at what we're up against the three countries have great traditions at this level and it will be exceptionally difficult for us.

"I've set a semi-final target and then we'll take it from there. Once you reach that stage anything can happen."

Young Hearts defender Lee Wallace is bracing himself for theatrics from the Portuguese.

He said: "We've been warned they will try to cheat to get a win so we've worked on our defensive shape so we're more than ready for them.

"When we play in foreign countries we know the players dive and try to get you booked. It gets annoying and against Portugal the last time there was a lot of diving. But we just want to get started."

Hearts striker Calum Elliot's hamstring problem is the only injury worry.

Taken from the Daily Record