Scotland World Cup Team Blog » Scouting report

WCQ Scouting Report: Iceland 3-0 Faroe Islands

Ian Rose — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:21:53 +0000

It’s hard to keep my mind on much aside from the announcement tomorrow of our first Scotland roster under George Burley, but there is always the small matter of keeping an eye on our World Cup qualifying groupmates. All of the four nations that share Group 9 with Scotland are in action on March 26th, as we are, but one of them is keeping busy this week as well. Iceland, the last-ranked team in the group, took on fellow northern landmass (better one, some say) the Faroe Islands. Iceland went into this match ranked #89 in the world by FIFA (to the Faroes’ 193rd), and should have expected to win, especially at home. Win they did, as midfielder Jónas Guðni Sævarsson scored his first Iceland goal in his fourth cap, and striker Tryggvi Guðmundsson netted his career twelfth, in 41 appearances. Sandwiched between the two was an own goal.

Just keeping an eye on the four countries standing between Scotland and the World Cup. Remember, Georgia wasn’t ranked much better than Iceland when they beat us 2-0 in last year’s Euro qualifiers, and we all know banana peels can come in the most unlikely times and places. Hopefully that won’t be an issue with Iceland. Iceland won’t roll over at home, and I expect Scotland and all the group nations to have to work there. I have to admit, I’ve always liked teams like Iceland, and I wish them well against all the other members of the group. If you could take a point out of Holland, I’d buy a scarf. Promise.

Another reason for Scots to watch Sunderland?

Ian Rose — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:41:44 +0000

Aside from keeping our starting keeper, Craig Gordon, fit and healthy, Sunderland AFC might just have even more to offer the Scotland national side. Apparently, Roy Keane’s newly acquired defender, Phil Bardsley (no relation to 2-cap England right back David) is unsure about where to commit his international loyalties. He was born outside Manchester, but his father is Scottish, and apparently he has enough Irish blood in him to make a Republic declaration as well. So far, he hasn’t done a huge amount to get the attention of the Scottish scouts, spending most of his Manchester United career on loan in Belgium, as well as a brief and fairly lackluster time at Rangers in which he managed a goal and a red card. But Sunderland has looked a pretty sharp defense since his addition, conceding four goals in four matches, but three of those to Liverpool at Anfield. If Bardsley continues to perform there, and if he chooses to be considered a Scot, George Burley might like the idea of a fullback with week-in, week-out familiarity with Gordon.

Another new face to consider in the mix as Burley brews up his squad list. Because he hasn’t yet declared as a Scot, I doubt he’s on the list for the Croatia friendly next month, but he may be one for the future. We certainly could use some youth in the back, and after yesterday’s horrible 4-0 loss to Rangers, Hearts’ Christophe Berra lost a bit of stock in that department.

No friendly today, so a scouting report instead

Ian Rose — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:14:24 +0000

It’s still a month and change until George Burley’s first friendly match in charge of the Scotland side, but he’ll have been watching keenly today as many of our upcoming friendly and World Cup qualifying opponents were in action. Here’s a quick look at how they fared.

The big one: Croatia v. Netherlands
This is the match that most interests Scotland, since Croatia is our first opponent in March, and Holland is the first seeded team in our World Cup qualifying group. The ninth and tenth ranked teams in the world, both will be important teams to succeed against in the coming year. The Dutch owned this matchup, which was a bit of a surprise to me. Croatia made its name in the Euro qualies this time around, especially against England, but went down 3-0 to a rampaging Holland side today. If it’s any consolation, the final goal was scored by Celtic’s Jan Vennegor of Hesselink, who our SPL-heavy defense should be quite accustomed to seeing. Vennegor in the 89th minute. God I’m sick of those words.

Armenia v. Iceland
Iceland did well to take a 2-0 victory on the road in Armenia today, proving that though they may be ranked 87th by FIFA, they are not an altogether terrible 5th-seed in the World Cup group, especially for a Scotland side that can still remember the horror of drawing against the Faroe Islands under Berti Vogts. A banana peel that is best left for someone else in the group to slip on. Respect them, George, though there’s certainly no reason to fear them.

Wales v. Norway
To me, this is the shocker of the day, a 3-0 home win for Wales over the Norwegians, who have had a bit of a resurgence lately, and made life quite nervous for their groupmates in these past Euro qualifiers. Wigan’s Jason Koumas scored a second-half brace to seal the win over a Norway side 29 places above them in the rankings. Well done to Wales, and a sign that perhaps Norway may not be the scary 3 seed they looked this past year.

Macedonia v. Serbia
Speaking of scary, I am very concerned with some of the results Macedonia has been able to achieve. They impressed everyone in the Euro qualifiers, taking 4 wins including a shocker over group winner Croatia. Today they continued their good run with a draw at home to Serbia. This is the side that may decide second place in the World Cup group. They don’t have the quality to take it themselves, but they are certainly able to pull out spoiler results, and George Burley needs to keep a tight eye on them to know who to mark. Serbia is currently ranked 27th, a full 33 places above Macedonia, and it’s a good result for the always dangerous minnows.