Thursday 6 September 2012

International Saturday

Hampden Park for me on Saturday. Scotland kick-off their 2014 World Cup campaign against Serbia (Vidic, Zigic, Stankovic) and it's a start I am less confident about than any tournament I can remember.

Craig Levein doesn't inspire me. His infamous 4-6-0 formation against the Czechs that saw us predictably beaten 1-0 in the European qualifiers that cost us the campaign. He should have acknowledged this at some stage but he has refused to do so and has also refused to entertain Sunderland man-of-the-moment, Stephen Fletcher, for having been critical of that decision in the past. Jordan Rhodes and Ross McCormack will instead provide a Championship spearhead but Serbia will present a formidable obstacle.

Beyond Serbia, we will need to overcome Croatia and Belgium before we even think about Wales. The Croats (Klasnic, Jelavic, Eduardo) shone at the World Cup and Belgium will be inspired by Edin Hazard, Thomas Vermaelen and Maroune Fellaini. I won't be travelling up for Tuesday's match against Macedonia and didn't get tickets in the ballot for Cardiff next month, although I will be heading to Belgium following that for a match that could well point the way for our qualification two years before the tournament starts.....

1 comment:

  1. Dave that is a very tough group.

    You must have been a very low seed. Got a feeling that Belgium are emerging as a side to be reckoned with at the moment, let alone the Croats and Serbs.

    good luck!

    Pembury Addick

    ReplyDelete

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