Victory in Alicante would secure a Euro 2012 play-off place but Czech Republic's failings give more reason for optimism
Scotland supporters have that familiar, hybrid feeling of anticipation and dread. There is some prospect of the national team entering the play-offs for the Euro 2012 finals even if it is most unlikely that the side will shape their own destiny. Despite losing Andr�s Iniesta and Cesc F�bregas to injury, the reigning world and European champions Spain may just about scrape a win in Alicante.
Any true optimism in Scottish hearts has more to do with the struggles of Czech Republic, who lost to Lithuania in Olomouc and, presumably, will be a little tense about the away fixture in Kaunas. At present, Scotland lie second in Group I, a point above the Czechs.
It is the sort of tantalising situation that leads to some hope and a dash of recrimination. In retrospect, Craig Levein is being blamed ever so slightly for selecting too circumspect a lineup and so falling to a 1-0 defeat in Prague.
People are bound to be on edge after waiting so long for even a hint that fans will be able to pack their bags and have their summer holiday at a tournament. When Scotland last had such an experience, at the 1998 World Cup, those of us who were covering the side had our base in a hotel on the corner of the Place de l'Horloge in Avignon. Given the setting, we were misguided to waste time grumbling. There should have been more appreciation, too, of Scotland's appearance in the tournament's opening game, a 2-1 defeat by the holders Brazil in Paris.
All of that prominence now feels remote but there are stirrings of promise. Scotland came from 2-0 down to equalise against Spain at Hampden, only for Fernando Llorente to come off the bench and score the winner. Regardless of results, Hampden is a comparatively happy place these days. The side have always been followed ardently by those with a distaste for the Old Firm. Their hope of adventure or just a little fun lies with Scotland.
Expectations, though, can creep slightly higher than that and the side should have scored more than one goal in the away victory over Liechtenstein in Vaduz. They at least avoided the self-parody of being felled by weak opponents.
It is reflective of a hopeful and determined attitude that Darren Fletcher was on the pitch after getting over a bout of tonsillitis. That might not sound like the most notable piece of fortitude but there have been occasions in days gone by when other footballers were suspected of snatching any chance to stay with their clubs when that sort of fixture was in the offing.
This, indeed, is rather a good time for small countries. If there was a rating system that gave extra marks for successes by the disadvantaged, Montenegro, who drew twice with England, might stand at its peak. Apart from the restriction of depending on a population of little more than 600,000 for their footballers, they had to abandon their understandably austere methods and come back from 2-0 down to seize the point that sent them to the Euro 2012 play-offs.
It would be encouraging to suppose that smaller countries who have less cause to be obsessed with the domestic scene can bring more purpose to international football. Compelling and popular as the Premier League is, few have regarded it as boon to England managers.
Some native talents are coming to the fore at the bigger clubs but it would be premature to declare a new era on that basis. Indeed, Fabio Capello will have to take a view on whether or when someone such as Tom Cleverley is to be given the sort of opportunities already presented to his Old Trafford team-mate Danny Welbeck. Those invitations must surely be issued sooner or later but it is premature to take it for granted that the Premier League will go on to fascinate a global television audience while also unearthing more and more native footballers with their best prospects before them.
Montenegro are an uncommon case since there is neither a brilliant youth development scheme nor plush centres of excellence, but there is some significance in the fact that youngsters grow up in a land where the national team will always dwarf the little clubs.
Scotland, with the Old Firm in their midst, cannot be portrayed in that fashion. Nonetheless, they have prominence in a period when Celtic would have joined Rangers in being eliminated from European competition before the end of August had FC Sion not been thrown out of the Europa League for fielding ineligible players. For the moment, it is Scotland alone who have a little hope.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/oct/10/scotland-spain-euro-2012
Jason Snelling C.J. Spiller Darren Sproles LaRod Stephens-Howling
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