Bowie can consider himself deeply unfortunate, too. His move to Hellas Verona in Serie A has been a personal success, even if his club got relegated.
Recently, he has scored against runaway champions Inter Milan, Juventus (who finished sixth) and Bologna (who finished eighth, fully 34 points ahead of Bowie’s strugglers). Since early March, Verona have scored five goals in Serie A and Bowie has got four of them.
Dykes and Hirst are in because they’re usually in, because Clarke knows them and trusts them and is happy to look beyond their lack of goal threat while focusing on other attributes – work-rate, experience, familiarity with the way Clarke works.
There’s no Lennon Miller, which was only a minor surprise given the 19-year-old midfielder was in the last squad for the friendlies against Japan and Ivory Coast but didn’t see even a minute of action.
No curveballs, but then there was never going to be. Those hoping Burke’s raw pace or Calvin Miller’s ability to beat a player could put them into contention didn’t reckon with Clarke’s way of doing things.
Clarke is short of width and pace – an age-old problem. He’s resisted whatever urge he may have had in calling up James Forrest. Conway would have been considered a wide player, but injury has claimed him.
Ben Gannon-Doak is the one genuine speedster – Curtis is the only other winger – and a heavy burden rests on his young shoulders.
Gannon-Doak got injured early on the famous night against Denmark in November – not long after he dinked in the cross for Scott McTominay’s overhead kick – and has been seen only fleetingly since then.
In six months, he’s had three minutes for Bournemouth against Manchester United on 20 March, 12 minutes against Newcastle United on 18 April and four minutes against Crystal Palace on 3 May.
In his own way, he’s as important to Scotland as any of the established stars. Clarke, and the nation as a whole, will be watching and praying he’s fit and well come Haiti.
For the 26, the easy bit is now complete, with the hardest bit yet to come. They’re not going to America just for the experience, they’re travelling, as Clarke kept stating, to make history as the first Scotland team to make it out of a group in a major championship.
Time is passing quickly. Before we know it, they’ll be in the midst of it.
