Scotland's match against France in St Etienne tonight promises to be as close as a friendly can get to the real thing. The World Cup hosts, denied the competitive edge of qualifying games ahead of the great jamboree next summer and harassed by a public simmering with anxiety, are likely to bring a demonic force to their endeavours.
The climate in the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium should be made for the kind of heroic defending characterised by Colin Hendry of Blackburn Rovers. But the big man, left at home to care for his pregnant wife, will be replaced by the novice, David Weir of Hearts.
Weir's two caps so far have both been gained in friendlies, against Wales and Malta last spring. Neither would contain the intensity that is likely to pervade tonight's encounter.
"It is different in nature from the normal friendly," said Craig Brown, the Scotland, manager, on arrival yesterday. "The French are like England before Euro '96 in that they have to try to simulate a genuine, competitive atmosphere in their preparatory games. They have a formidable squad, with nine of the 18 playing in Italy, two in England and the other seven in France. We have to try one or two things, and David Weir and Matt Elliott of Leicester are the two obvious candidates to replace Hendry.
"It would be unfair to put Elliott on from the start, as he just played against Wimbledon last night. Weir probably just has the call. We'd want to see him in the circumstances he's liable to meet tomorrow night."
Brown is also forced to change his normal midfield because Paul Lambert is unavailable. Billy McKinlay, the Blackburn midfielder, will be given his place. "He's been playing exceptionally well for his club, who are sharing second place in the Premiership," said Brown. "McKinlay has different strengths from Lambert. He can do that holding role that Lambert specialises in, but he is also much more likely to break forward and score. He has four goals at international level and Lambert has none.
"The purpose of these games is to find out things, although we couldn't have picked a stiffer test and if things go seriously wrong we have to analyse it and sort it out. But we're not in the market for a heavy defeat. We've qualified on merit for the last two major championships and we're not easily subdued. We also have to emphasise that this is France '97 and our priority is France '98."
John Collins, the Monaco midfielder, testified to the unrest among the French public after Aime Jacquet's team had beaten South Africa 2-1 in their last friendly, in Paris. "The problem with the French is they keep looking for somebody, coach or player, with the charisma of Michel Platini," said Collins.
"These guys don't grow on trees. They realise they have some outstanding players, but they worry that they are not performing as a team. But that's normal in these circumstances, for people not to realise that friendly matches aren't the most reliable guide.
"It can't be easy for Jacquet and his players to go two years just playing friendlies. But they'll be up for this one, all right. The public criticism means these guys are all playing for their World Cup places. We'd better be up for it, too, or I'll get some terrible stick afterwards. I've been telling everybody here that we're not just a kick-and-rush team. If we don't perform, I have to stay here and live with it."
With accomplished players such as Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc and Lilian Thuram at the back, Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane in midfield, and Youri Djorkaeff supporting the prolific Stephane Guivarc'h of Auxerre and Lilian Laslandes of Bordeaux in attack, the Scots could be in for a hard night.
