After the draw: I’m satisfied
By: Ian Rose | November 25th, 2007The World Cup draw is over, and here’s Scotland’s group:
Group 9
Netherlands
Scotland
Norway
Macedonia
Iceland
Not a bad draw. Holland has to be considered one of the weaker 1-seeds, but Norway is going to be a tough one. We need a minimum of second place, since all group winners are in and the highest-ranked eight of the nine runners-up make it through to a playoff. I’m satisfied - happy with the 1-seed; a bit disappointed in the 3-seed. Macedonia’s a bit of a trouble-maker in the 4 spot, after their impressive 14 points in the Euro qualifying, but I’m hoping they can take some more out of Scotland’s rivals than they do from Scotland itself. I think it’s a pretty wide-open group, with any of the top three having the potential to win it.
There really doesn’t seem to be a group of death in this round, which is nice to see. Group 6 may be the toughest, with Croatia, England, Ukraine and Belarus, may be the toughest. Croatia’s on good form and England will be none too happy to see them again. Ukraine has slid a little, but they’ll still be dangerous, and Belarus beat Holland in Euro qualifying this year, so they can pull out surprises too. Hold on a second while I cry for the English. Done.
Category: Scotland National Team
Tags: Group 9, Iceland, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Scotland National Team, World Cup 2010, World Cup drawSubscribe
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Comments
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Looks like a good group for Scotland. No trips to southern Europe during the hot summer months either, which is a bonus for those that burn easily. I would caution you though, because the lowest seed in the group has my all-time favorite non-Celt in Eidur Gudjohnsen, who can steal points form better teams in a heartbeat!
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United States
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Well, let’s hope Eidur and the Icelanders concentrate on taking points out of their fellow Scandinavians. Both Macedonia and Iceland can be spoilers, so it really is an open group. Hopefully, if there’s a stupid mistake to be made, it will be Holland’s or Norway’s and not the Scots’.
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United States -
Macedonia has always played good and surprised England and Ireland couple times. Is Scotland next?
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United States -
Macedonia’s been playing very well. 14 points in the Euro 2008 qualifying was a great result for them. I just hope they’ll cause upsets against Norway rather than Scotland. After our Euros, where we beat France twice but lost to Georgia, maybe I should be more worried about Macedonia than I am. Well, there’s 6 months to decide before any matches are actually played.
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