1982: When we were the chosen ones

REPRESENTING your country in the final of a European Championship is an honour and it's a memory the current Scotland Under-19 squad will cherish for the rest of their lives. But I hope they will also use the experience as a platform on which to build brilliant careers for themselves.

Because I never won a trophy at club level with Hearts, playing in the 1982 side which won the Uefa Under-19 Championships remains one of my football highlights and I know that it was the confidence gained from playing against and beating some of the best players of my generation in Europe that helped mould my career.

But I also look at the likes of Marco Van Basten, who played in the Dutch team we defeated on the way to the final, and the way our careers progressed after that bears no comparison. Long-term, one of us went on to achieve at European and world level, while I had a good career in a Scottish sense.

Part of that was because the Dutch and the French approach the development of their players differently. What we had at that early age was a real competitive edge. For the Dutch that was secondary. They concentrate on honing the players' technique, knowing that eventually the required competitiveness would come naturally. This remains something we have to address, despite the fact that our Under-19s have performed so well this time around. We need to pinpoint our elite players at an earlier age and make sure they develop the technical side of their play.

But that should take nothing away from our young pups. Just as in my day, this group of lads were pretty unfancied but got to the final by showing a great will to win.

I remember in 1982 we never set out with any expectations, but just getting to the final, let alone winning, was a huge thing. I see a lot of similarities in our squad and the current crop.

In those days, guys like Paul McStay, Dave Beaumont and myself were playing first team football and it's the same now with guys like Steven Fletcher, Robert Snodgrass, Calum Elliot, Lee Wallace and Garry Kenneth.

Then, like now, the achievements of a group of Scottish teenagers captured the imagination of a nation. I remember Andy Roxburgh, who was our coach, sitting us down and telling us that as the senior Scotland side had lost 1-0 to England a day or so before, it was up to us to restore pride.

It was an opportunity to monopolise the back pages and give a positive spin to Scottish football. And he was spot on.

The same could be said of this squad. They have made the most of their opportunity to make themselves household names and although some teams, such as the eventual winners Spain, have been technically superior, they have shown they have a competitive streak none other than Spain could better. I hope this crop go on to even bigger and better things and can progress to the full international side the way a few of the 1982 team did. As a nation we don't reach many finals so the lads should be proud of themselves and once they get over the initial disappointment, I hope they cherish the memories. Most of all, I hope they never stop striving for even more success.

Taken from the Scotsman