Ryan Christie is chasing history at Euro 2024

Ryan Christie admits Scotland are chasing history at Euro 2024.

The Scots will open the tournament against host Germany tomorrow night, with the added personal prestige for Christie of it potentially being his 50th cap – which would put him on the Scotland roll of honour.

It would make the 29-year-old the first ever Inverness Caley Thistle academy graduate to reach that landmark, and would undoubtedly be a proud moment for both him and every football fan in the Highlands.

On the pitch, Steve Clarke’s side will also have to deal with Switzerland and Hungary alongside Germany in their group, with the potential for whoever finishes third to progress into the round of 16.

With Scotland never having progressed past the first round in any major international tournament finals they have qualified for, that is a clear goal for Christie and his national team cohorts.

“I think we just want to do as well as possible,” Christie explained.

“In the last Euros, we wanted to prove that we are a team that belonged there, and we wanted to make sure we weren’t a one-tournament wonder.

“We wanted to do it campaign after campaign, so it’s good that we’ve managed to get here again and now we can set our stall a little further ahead.

“You look at it and think ‘can we make it out of the group?’ We would be the first Scottish team to do that in history, but that’s what we’re chasing right now.

“Obviously it’s going to be tough, because every team you face in the Euros will be a really hard match, but we will go into it with confidence and believing we can get good results.”

Scotland will be backed by thousands of fans who have travelled over to Germany, and plenty more who will be watching from home.

Christie has been keenly aware of the excitement around the country for this summer’s tournament, and he is determined to help give those supporters something to celebrate over at least the next nine days.

“It will be amazing, I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

“It has been like there’s a feeling across Scotland that everyone is getting ready to leave and head to Germany.

“Getting to see all the Scots over in Germany having the time of their lives is really exciting.

“It adds some pressure, but it’s also inspiring. All of my friends and family are heading over, so it’s amazing for them to get to experience it.

“When I was growing up, there weren’t any opportunities for me to go to tournaments and support Scotland, so it’s nice that they’ve got that and I’m sure they will love it.

“We put pressure on ourselves anyway because we want to represent the country as well as we can. We know it’s a big tournament, but it would be even better if we can give the fans something to celebrate too.”

Scotland’s prospects may be boosted by the fact that it is their second European Championship in-a-row.

Last time around, it was under very different circumstances. The Covid-19 pandemic meant that, even though matches were spread around the continent and Scotland played two of their group games at Hampden Park, there were still restrictions in place for supporters.

On the pitch though, Christie feels Scotland will be stronger this summer for those experiences three years ago, with the bulk of the squad remaining the same.

“Just it being our second Euros will help a lot,” he added.

“It will be nice to know what to expect, and hopefully we can adapt to it a little bit better this time.

“Since that last Euros, the core of this group has been together so much and that definitely helps.

“We’ve been together so long that it definitely helps with our preparation, and dealing with expectations as a group.”

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