9/9/09 Scotland vs. Netherlands

First, sorry for the lack of coverage of the Macedonian win. I was out of town and though I watched the match, I didn’t have a lot to add because frankly, all it did was keep us afloat. All we could have done on Saturday is lose the World Cup, and we didn’t. Wednesday, we have the chance, however small, to secure the next step to South Africa.

For those who haven’t been keeping up with UEFA Group 9, here is the situation. The Netherlands have already long since qualified as runaway group winners, and the Oranje will be in the World Cup. In second place, with one group match remaining, are the Scots, on 10 points. Tied with 7 points each are Macedonia and Norway. Because of their 4-0 win over us and the resulting goal differential, if we lose and Norway beat Macedonia tomorrow, we will certainly give up the second spot and the run to the World Cup will be over for Scotland. If we get at least a point, we will secure 2nd place, but not necessarily a playoff spot, since we could still be the last-placed runner up.

So, as we all were afraid of early on, we go into the last match with Holland needing to take something away. We’ve done it before, and I won’t bother mentioning a certain World Cup goal that still makes Scottish hearts proud, or the fact that James McFadden’s stunning goal against Macedonia has made us start to believe a little again. History doesn’t matter right now. It’s a horrible sports cliche, but today, there is truly no yesterday and no tomorrow. We can take something from this match, but only if we play the best football of the Burley era. We need to both defend and attack better than we’ve done in the last two years.

We are still waiting to see if Craig Gordon will be fit for the match, as he’s still nursing a thigh injury, but the news seems to be getting better. He is clearly our #1 and losing him at this point, coming off of a clean sheet win, would be devastating. I’d put money on him starting between the sticks.

So this is it – the end of the qualifying campaign. We drew a group that we should have done better against, but we go into the last match with a chance of moving on, and I can’t complain too much about that. Like I said, nothing up to this point matters any more, and this is a cup final for us, even if it’s not at all one for the Dutch.

I’d like to thank all the neutrals who will be rooting for Scotland tomorrow – I’ve gotten a lot of slaps on the back and good luck handshakes this week and I know that we’ll have more than Scots wishing us well tomorrow, especially since we’ve always had a good relationship with the Dutch and they’ve already qualified. I’ll be watching in my kit and scarf, as countless Scots and others around the world will. We’re certainly underdogs, but when are we not?

Mon the Scots.