Scotland will be heading of to Slovenia at the end of February for a friendly away fixture.
Tickets for the Slovenia v Scotland match are now available to Scotland Supporters Club members from 23:59 tonight. Cost is 30 Euros (about £20) each. There will be only 660 tickets available. So get in quick.
The Scotland squad did themselves proud this evening. A 2-1 victory over Denmark, one of Europe’s better teams, provided some entertaining football with Robert Snodgrass scoring the winning goal in what was his international debut.
The SFA have organised a Scotland v Denmark friendly. The match has been scheduled for Wednesday 10 August 2011 at Hampden Park. Kick off will be at 7.45 pm.
With the forthcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers getting closer the SFA have organised a ‘warm-up’ match against Denmark. With tough opposition, including world champions Spain and the Czech Republic, it is intended that this challenge match will allow the Scotland team the preparation they need to reach the finals in Euro 2014 finals in Poland and Ukraine.
Tickets will be available to SSC members from 10am on 3 June. The price has been set at £18 and will include a FREE ticket to the Scotland v Norway Under 21 match at St Mirren Park at 4pm the same day.
We made it to the Emirates Stadium. Having rescheduled flights back to London after my brother’s stag weekend we made it back to Heathrow for shortly after 8 am. Everyone was knackered, but it was going to be worth it. We’d managed a few hours sleep and were waiting to see some football.
The Brazilians were outstanding. Leading from the start, they never let up. But Scotland didn’t give up, doing their best to keep up with the South Americans. The defended well, but our lone forward Kenny Miller barely touched the ball. And the Brazilians kept piling on the pressure with a near goal after 20 minutes, saved only by the cross bar. But as minute ticked by we were still holding them off. If we could just hold out to half time.
Tragedy!! A 41 minute goal by Brazil’s Neymar put paid to any chance of not ending the first half second-best. The South Americans finally converted their chances, scoring when Santos struck the ball to an unmarked Neymar who put it squarely in the net. The heart of every Scotsman in the stadium sank. NO!!!!! Brazil went a head 1-0. And that was the score when the first half ended.
After 15 minutes moods weren’t lifting. It was not looking good for Scotland and the fans were less than optimistic. If the team could lift their game it might be possible. If they played like the first half, forget it. Then the second half started and Charlie Adam goes and gives the ball away, almost leading a Neymar goal which luckily goes just over the crossbar.
And Brazil continued to dominate. Despite two substitutions, bringing on Barry Bannan and Kris Commons for James McArthur and Steven Whittaker, there was no change in performance. At least we were only 1-0 down. Still a chance to sneak an equalizer.
Then, worst of all nightmares, Charlie Adam’s day get even worse as he floors Neymar, conceding a penalty. A second Brazilian goal seemed certain. And Neymar confirmed that with a sound penalty strike. Brazil were two goals ahead.
That essentially killed the game. Any chance Scotland had of getting a draw had near enough vanished. A further substitution, bringing on Robert Snodgrass for Charlie Adam wasn’t enough and the game never moved in our favour. The mood in the crowd was dire. Scotland continued to be outplayed and never looked like getting a consolation goal. A 2-0 defeat by a far superior opposition was how the day ended. Hopefully some lessons learned for future games.
Time for consolation beers…
The SFA have secured every SSC member a ticket for the Scotland v Brazil match at the Emirates Stadium. 2,500 tickes will cost £30 with the remainder being priced at £35.
Reading between lines, I don’t think anyone expects too many Brazilian fans. I could find no mention of a quota of tickets for the Brazilain support. So, it may be that the stadium will be full of Scotland fans and all Scotland supporters, including those not in the SSC, will be able to buy tickets for this match.
Hopefully there will also be a few Brazilains fans present. It’d be good to have some rival support. The atmosphere would benefit, and let’s be honest, the pretty ladies we often see in the Brazilain crowds would be a pleasant addition to a sea of male faces;)
Anyhoo, tickets go on sale tomorrow at http://www.ticketlink.co.uk/scotlandtickets
The SFA announced today that the Scotland Squad will play Brazil in London, at the Emirates Stadium, on Sunday, 27 March. Kick off will be at 2.00pm.
There will be great anticipation around this fixture. It will be the first time Scotland have faced Brazil since the opening match of World Cup France 1998 and the Scotland team’s first trip to London since beating the English 1-0 at Wembley in 1999.
I’m going need to find a pub to watch the game. I’ll be in Berlin for my wee brother’s stag weekend, so I’m hoping we can find a sports bar. We need to fly back shortly after the match, so somewhere in/near the airport would be good. Am sure we’ll sort something out, but if anyone knows of anywhere please leave a comment.
Anyhoo, it should be a good game. It’ll be a minor miracle of we win, but the same was said a few years ago in France 
Another disappointment..
I had thought about going to Sweden to watch this match. Luckily I didn’t have enough holiday time left to make it possible. Spending a load of money to see Levein’s Scotland fail would have been too painful.
The game was dire. Pretty much from the start Sweden were in control. We were down a goal by the third minute. Nightmare. Scotland did have some chances, but nothing came from it. Then Sweden went further ahead with a Bajrami goal leaving Scotland trailing 2-0 at half-time.
The second half didn’t see any improvements. Despite a passionate start and a close shot at goal by McFadden the ball was never in serious threat of landing in the Sweden net. And the hosts scored again making it 3 – 0. After that there was still a further 35 minutes to go. And to be perfectly honest I am too depressed to keep writing about it.
I feel sorry for one of my brothers who was there. My other brother claimed he was too busy at work to go to Sweden. He said “Its the end of month accounts”, which considering the date, seems an odd reason. Maybe his time at the Norways game has dulled his enthusiasm. Not that I criticise.
I just hope the team can find some form by the start of the Euro 2012 qualifiers.
Scotland coach, Craig Levein, has disclosed the Scotland team he plans will face Sweden in Stockholm next week. Changes from the recent match against the Czech Republic include recalls for Rangers pair Kirk Broadfoot and Allan McGregor, Stephen McManus (Middlesbrough) and James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion). The 23 squad is as follows:
Charlie Adam (Blackpool)
Neil Alexander (Rangers)
Christophe Berra (Wolves)
Kris Boyd (Middlesbrough)
Kirk Broadfoot (Rangers)
Scott Brown (Celtic)
Graham Dorrans (West Bromwich Albion)
Darren Fletcher (Manchester United)
Steven Fletcher (Wolves)
Alan Hutton (Tottenham Hotspur)
Chris Iwelumo (Burnley)
David Marshall (Cardiff City)
Lee McCulloch (Rangers)
James McFadden (Birmingham City)
Allan McGregor (Rangers)
Stephen McManus (Middlesbrough)
Kenny Miller (Rangers)
James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion)
Barry Robson (Middlesbrough)
Kevin Thomson (Middlesbrough)
Lee Wallace (Heart of Midlothian)
Andy Webster (Rangers)
Steven Whittaker (Rangers)
All the best to them. Here’s hoping for a good result.
More information is availble at the SFA site.
I received an email from the Scotland Supporters Club earlier today. They reported that the venue for the Sweden v Scotland on August 11 has been decided and will be at the Rasunda National Stadium in Solnoka, Stockholm. This stadium has a capacity of 35,000. So, with the usual 10% allotment for away fans, there should be 3,500 available for Scotland fans.
Unfortunately, I have no holidays, so I’ll be watching it on TV here. See you in the Rob Roy I guess.
It has been reported on the SFA website that Scotland will be playing against Sweden this coming August 11. Venue and ticket allocation remain to be be decided.
This is going to be another weekday game. I really think the SFA need to try and arrange some Saturday fixtures. Midweek games never attract huge crowds, so the money coming in to the SFA must be a lot less than if it were to organise weekend matches. I’m sure this isn’t helping to keep ticket prices down.
