Angus Gunn never felt the pressure of following in his father’s footballing footsteps, although he admits he did annoy his dad by quickly surpassing his Scotland achievements.
The Norwich goalkeeper has won nine caps since switching allegiance from England in 2023, already three more than dad Bryan earned during his career.
Gunn has been number one since the start of European qualifying and didn’t concede a goal from open play in the first five matches – including a memorable clean sheet against Spain.
He told Sky Sports that being the son of a professional footballer did not mean expectations were any higher.
“All the way through my career, even when I was growing up in academies, he always left me to it,” he said of Bryan, who made almost 400 appearances for Norwich.
Bryan Gunn won six Scotland caps
“He let the coaches do all the coaching. He was just there to support me and guide me if I ever needed it. He was only there as a father and I enjoyed it that way as well, not really putting too much pressure on me.
“Everyone does it differently but from my point of view if he tried to put pressure on me, especially as a youngster, that might have pushed me away a little bit.
“He was proud watching my debut against Cyprus, he was there and I think he was a bit gutted when I surpassed his six caps but it only took me a few months to be honest which I think was a bit more annoying for him!”
Angus Gunn made his Scotland debut against Cyprus
Scotland kick-off Euro 2024 against hosts Germany on June 14 and Gunn is targeting a “huge upset,” believing Steve Clarke has taken the national side to the “next level.”
“We’re all confident. No Scotland team has ever qualified for the knockout stages and the manager has said quite a few times in the last campaign that we want to be a team to create history,” he added.
“I think we did that the way we qualified for the tournament, and who says we can’t do it by getting out of that group as well?
“That is our target for the tournament, and we’ll be going there to try and make sure we do that.
“Obviously the opening game is against Germany, the hosts of the tournament. I think it’s our job to let them have the pressure, go into it as a free hit and hopefully cause a big upset.”
Since making his Scotland debut in March 2023, Gunn has won nine caps and insists Steve Clarke is the man to bring even more success to the national side after leading them to back-to-back Euros.
“I’ve only been there for about a year now and ever since I’ve joined the squad I’ve felt really welcome, not only him but the staff and all the lads as well,” he added.
“It just shows what he’s built over the last few years in terms of building that group from where they were as maybe a pot three or pot four team building us into a pot two team and going into the Nations League top tier as well.
“It just shows what happens when you put trust in the manager and let him build something. He’s really taken the national team to the next level.”
Scotland’s Euro 2024 group-stage matches
Friday June 14 – Group A: Germany vs Scotland (Allianz Arena, Munich)
Wednesday June 19 – Group A: Scotland vs Switzerland (RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne)
Sunday June 23 – Group A: Scotland vs Hungary (MHPArena, Stuttgart)
The top two in each group plus the four best third-placed teams go through
If Scotland finish as one of four best third-placed teams…
One of:
Sunday June 30 – Group B winners vs third-placed side from Group A/D/E/F (RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne)
Monday July 1 – Group F winners vs third-placed side from Group A/B/C (Waldstadion, Frankfurt)
Tuesday July 2: Group E winners vs third-placed side Group A/B/C/D (Allianz Arena, Munich)
Quarter-finals
If Scotland finish first in Group A and win round of 16 game…
Friday July 5 (MHPArena, Stuttgart)
If Scotland finish second in Group A and win round of 16 game…
Saturday July 6 (Merkur Spiel-Arena, Dusseldorf)
If Scotland finish as one of four best third-placed teams and win round of 16 game…
One of:
Friday July 5 (MHPArena, Stuttgart)
Friday July 5 (Volksparkstadion, Hamburg)
Saturday July 6 – (Olympiastadion, Berlin)
Semi-finals
If Scotland finish first in Group A, win round of 16 game and win quarter-final…
Tuesday July 9 – kick-off 8pm (Allianz Arena, Munich)
If England finish second in Group A, win round of 16 game and win quarter-final…
Wednesday July 10 – kick-off 8pm (Westfalenstadion, Dortmund)
If Scotland finish as one of four best third-placed teams, win round of 16 game and win quarter-final…
One of:
Tuesday July 9 – kick-off 8pm (Allianz Arena, Munich)
Wednesday July 10 – kick-off 8pm (Westfalenstadion, Dortmund)
And finally, the final…
Sunday July 14 – kick-off 8pm (Olympiastadion, Berlin)
