Leeds United: Liam Cooper will have all too familiar feeling at Euro 2024 with Scotland - View | OneFootball

Leeds United defender Liam Cooper was included in Scotland's squad for Euro 2024.

Highlights

Leeds United captain Liam Cooper was included in Steve Clarke's Scotland squad for the UEFA European Championship in Germany this summer.

Cooper has 19 caps for his country, and made his international debut against Russia in 2019. Euro 2024 is the second major tournament that the 32-year-old has been a part of, after he made one appearance at Euro 2020 in Scotland's group stage defeat against the Czech Republic.

The defender has made 284 appearances for Leeds since joining the club from Chesterfield in the summer of 2014. He helped Leeds achieve promotion back to the Premier League at the end of the 2019/20 season.

While Cooper didn't feature regularly for the Whites under Daniel Farke this season, he did enough to convince Clarke that he deserved a seat on the plane to Germany.

Cooper did not feature much for Leeds this season

Cooper played an important part in Leeds' 2019/20 promotion campaign, making 38 appearances, but he did not feature as often this season as they looked to repeat the feat and return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

He only played 15 games over the course of the regular season as Leeds finished third in the Championship behind Ipswich Town and title-winners Leicester City. Leeds' play-off campaign was unsuccessful, as they were beaten by Southampton in the final, and Cooper only played seven minutes as a late substitute during the second leg of their convincing semi-final victory over Norwich City.

With his contract due to expire this summer, Cooper spoke to the BBC ahead of the play-off final, describing it as an opportunity to enjoy a fairytale ending to his Leeds career:

"It would be the fairytale ending. Those conversations haven't happened yet so it's not the time to talk about my future, but it would be a dream come true for it to end like that."

Unfortunately for Cooper and Leeds, they fell short at Wembley, but both parties remain in talks over a new deal and negotiations are expected after the defender returns from Euro 2024.

Cooper must have had a familiar feeling in Germany

After spending most of the season on the bench at Elland Road, Cooper might have been hoping he would get an opportunity to start for Scotland at the Euros.

However, Clarke opted to start with Ryan Porteous, Jack Hendry and Kieran Tierney in his back three for The Tartan Army's opening game against the host nation, Germany.

Scotland were beaten 5-1, and Porteous was sent off, as they suffered the worst possible start to their group stage campaign.

Watford defender Porteous saw his automatic one match ban extended to two games because of 'serious rough play'.

That means Cooper could get the opportunity to shake that familiar feeling of being named among the substitutes in Scotland's upcoming games against Switzerland and Hungary.

However, Grant Hanley and Scott McKenna (both of whom came off the bench against Germany) will also be considered by Clarke to replace Porteous for Scotland's crucial fixtures, so Cooper may well be on the bench once again.

It remains to be seen whether Cooper extends his stay at Elland Road after the Euros this summer, but he will hope he gets the chance to prove himself during Scotland's next two fixtures after a season in which his opportunities have been limited.

The feeling right now, though, and Clarke's pecking order, suggest it might be more of the same for the Leeds legend.