Tartan Army Soldier

The draw has been made for the World Cup 2014 qualifying stages. Teams were drawn in Rio De Janeiro on June 30. Scotland were selected into Group A and will face Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Macedonia and Wales.

I reckon that’s a fairly good draw for Scotland. None of these teams are pushovers. I can’t see any teams that will guarantee us 6 points, like San Marino or Iceland, but at the same time we could have ended up a lot worse. We have avoided teams like Holland or Italy who would have posed a significant challenge. None of the teams drawn are beyond a motivated Scotland team.

Away form could be the key. I reckon Scotland are good enough to beat any of those teams at Hampden. And with that 15 points we just need to secure some decent results away from home. Croatia and Wales have a decent history, but have faltered in recent years. And none of the other 3 are sure-fire world-beaters. With a bit of luck and a determined effort it should be beyond the Scotland squad to lead us on a Brazilian journey to the finals in 2014.

And if the SFA could avoid agreeing to Scotland playing matches in Macedonia, Croatia or Serbia in the height of summer, that would be a big help too.