This is a night that could define careers and legacies…  Scotland must seize the moment and take hold of their Finals destiny

Hampden has waited a long, long time for a night like this. An occasion rich with promise yet laced with danger.

An evening of bewitching drama where triumph and despair will dance hand in hand for 90 minutes.

An evening suspended somewhere between heaven and hell. A date with destiny where the emotions are certain to lurch between agony, ecstasy and everything in between.

Scotland walked this tightrope against Italy back in 2007. With their shoulders arched back and chests puffed out, the Tartan Army and Ronnie Browne belted out a thunderous rendition of Flower of Scotland.

It was spine-tingling stuff. Truly epic. But it wasn’t enough. Hampden’s heart was broken by a late Christian Panucci goal and an infamously rotten decision from the referee.

A campaign which had seen them beat France home and away ended with no tangible reward. Only memories and the stale smell of regret about that 2-0 loss to Georgia just a few weeks previously.

That was the qualification campaign for Euro 2008. With a place on the World Cup on the line against Denmark tonight, this will be on another level.

Shortly before 7.45pm, when 50,000 people clear their throats and give it laldy, there will be a surge of energy and noise in Mount Florida that could blow the national grid.

Bob Dylan has been playing in Glasgow these past couple of nights. But it’s Scotland who will seek to prove that The Times They Are a-Changin’ by qualifying for a World Cup for the first time in 27 years.

This could be a night that defines careers and legacies. Steve Clarke could become the first ever Scotland manager to lead the country to three major tournaments.

At the age of 31, it is most probably the last chance for the likes of captain Andy Robertson and talisman John McGinn to reach a World Cup.

Scotland have the safety net of a play-off to fall back on. The draw for those will be made on Thursday, but what an anti-climax it would be if Clarke’s side were to be involved in that.

There are times when tactics and strategy can bend to something more primal. A raw energy and passion inside a stadium, a wave of emotion that lifts one team above another.

Scotland benefit from this more than most. When the Hampden crowd get the bit between their teeth, it can become a place of riotous noise and colour. A truly awesome spectacle.

Denmark know this. Only a few months after reaching the semi-finals of the European Championships, they lost 2-0 to Scotland in Glasgow in a World Cup qualifier.

It was a thrilling performance, brilliant in every department, and up there with anything they have produced throughout Clarke’s tenure.

They haven’t been able to match those levels so far in this campaign. Despite digging out results and now standing only 90 minutes from their objective, performances have been patchy.

Particularly in the three most recent matches against Greece (twice) and Belarus, Scotland have flirted with disaster before somehow emerging unscathed.

And that’s the point. The emotional energy within Hampden will only take them so far. As was the case against Italy all those years ago, passion only gets you so far.

It will be up to Clarke and the players to deliver their very best and ensure that this becomes a night for the ages.

This is a huge night for Clarke. For all he stands on the brink of qualifying for a World Cup, there remains a feeling in some quarters that he has hung around for too long.

A feeling that he should really have been relieved of his duties on the back of such a dismal showing in Euro 2024.

The final nail in Scotland’s coffin during that tournament came when we barely fired a shot against Hungary, a match we knew we had to win in order to progress, but limped to a feeble 1-0 defeat.

That is precisely what cannot happen tonight. Knowing that a victory will clinch a place in the World Cup, Scotland must not die wondering.

Clarke’s in-game management in the Hungary game was poor. He didn’t make any changes until the 76th minute. The game passed him by.

If that was to happen again tonight, it would be unforgivable. It would also be extremely difficult to see how he picks the players up for the play-offs.

Mind you, the same could be said of Denmark coming into this match. How do they pick themselves up after making such a monumental mess of it against Belarus on Saturday night?

The Danes wouldn’t be human if they didn’t feel at least a little bit sorry for themselves. They’ve not blown it yet, but there’s bound to be a mental fragility. Scotland need to pounce upon it.

From the first minute, they need to be aggressive and play on the front foot, something which they have struggled to do in recent times.

But for all that the performances have been far from stellar in this campaign, all of that would become irrelevant if they get the job done tonight.

The finish line is in sight. Hampden holds its breath on a night that has been 27 years in the making. Indeed, you have to go all the way back to 1989 to find the last time Scotland qualified for a tournament in front of their own fans.

Famous goals of yesteryear will be shown on the big screens prior to kick-off. Of Dalglish, Jordan, Johnston and the like. But it’s time for a new generation of heroes.

Scotland will stand on a cliff edge and trade blows with Denmark. The Tartan Army will watch on with a look of desperation on their faces that can only be mustered when the heart has waited so long for a night like this.

In ancient times, Denmark and the Norse Gods had Valhalla and an afterlife of eternal glory. But it’s Clarke and his Scotland players who will pursue football immortality this evening.