A lot can change in a month.
When they landed in Fort Lauderdale – three days after Clarke signed a fresh four-year contract – the squad could hardly have been more vocal as they checked in at Inter Miami’s $60m Florida Blue training centre.
Lionel Messi, the 39-year-old Argentina captain, who continues to light up the international stage 20 years on from his tournament debut, green-lighted every detail of the top-dollar set-up. And, if it’s good enough for the wee man…
The SFA pulled in some favours to secure the lavish establishment – it was Sir Alex Ferguson who rang Inter Miami president and co-owner Sir David Beckham to get the deal over the line.
When Clarke came for a chat pitchside – a sign of the “different” head coach at these finals – during their first proper training session under the scorching sun, he admitted it “cost a little bit more” than the SFA wanted to spend. And yet.
“They have given us everything we’ve asked for,” Clarke said.
And they asked for a lot. Two days after the 1-0 win over Haiti – because the players had the day after the game off – assistant coach Steven Naismith spoke of the mountain of work put in pre-tournament after listening to the squad.
“So much work was done in terms of what the players want, what they need, what they didn’t like before,” the former forward said.
They wanted a longer camp before the tournament. Check. They wanted a period of acclimatising. Check. They wanted a bit of downtime. Check.
