Final squad selection

Andy Roxburgh’s 22 man squad was announced on 18 May 1990. Some familiar names were not included in the squad, as they were ruled out with injury.

The versatile and important Steve Nicol was one of the players sidelined. In fact, Nicol had not played in any of Scotland’s warm-up games in 1990, as he apparently had been struggling with injury for much of the spring. He had usually been employed in the difficult midfield wide positions for Scotland in the qualification, and would be a big miss for Roxburgh and Scotland.

It had also been clear for a while that Willie Miller would miss Italia’90 due to a knee injury. He had struggled with a bad knee for most of the 1988-89 season, and suffered a new lengthy spell on the sidelines after an accidental challenge in Scotland’s last qualifier, against Norway on 15 November 1989. Miller had returned to the Aberdeen team already in March 1990, but soon experienced a setback and was unable to return to the Scottish Cup final on 12 May 1990 against Celtic at Hampden Park.

A stalwart in Scotland’s national team for years, Miller was not considered for the 22 man squad for Italia’90, and ultimately retired from the game. For his experience and influence, he did however join Roxburgh’s backroom staff travelling to Italy.

Training camp

A training camp was arranged in Malta from 24 May to 31 May.