Levein's men must face mightiest and minnows

Published on Monday 8 February 2010 10:16

East Seniors football correspondent and Tartan Army foot soldier KEITH ANDERSON takes a look at Scotland's Euro 2012 qualifying rivals ..

SPAIN

THE reigning European champions need little introduction and boast a frightening array of stars, not least Liverpool's Fernando Torres and Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas.

The last time Scotland met Luis Aragones' side was in a challenge match at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia on 3 September, 2004 when the referee had to abandon the game after 59 minutes with the score at 1-1 because a lightning storm had caused a power failure then torrential rain flooded the pitch. Craig Gordon was in goals that night along with other former Hearts players, Andy Webster and Colin Cameron.

The Scottish fans should have no trouble in transporting themselves to Spain and, although the venue has not yet been decided, the Tartan Army will have their fingers crossed it's Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium. Spain, who went undefeated for a world record of 35 games between 2007 and 2009 with 32 wins and three draws, will prove incredibly difficult opponents.

CZECH REPUBLIC

SCOTLAND are billed to play the Czech Republic in a friendly at Hampden Park in less than four weeks time to give manager Craig Levein his first match in charge.

The two sides last met on 30 May, 2008 in Prague in a challenge match which Scotland lost 3-1. Scotland's only competitive games with the Czech Republic were in the European Championship qualifying matches in 1999 when Scotland lost 2-1 at home then 2-3 in Prague after leading 2-0 with over an hour of the game gone.

The Czech Republic have not qualified for this year's World Cup, finishing third in their group behind Slovakia and Slovenia with four wins from their ten fixtures.

Their current top players include Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech as well as Arsenal's Tomas Rosicky.

The two games against the Czechs are likely to be the most important with both sides, realistically, thinking that the runners-up spot will represent their best chance of qualifying for Euro 2012.

LITHUANIA

SCOTLAND have met Lithuania on six previous occasions in all of the last three European Championship qualifiers, 2000, 2004 and 2008, winning three.

In the campaign for Euro 2008, the Scots beat Lithuania 2-1 away from home while, in the return leg, triumphed 3-1 thanks to strikes from Stephen McManus, Kris Boyd and James McFadden.

There is an association between Scotland and Lithuania, of course, because of Hearts' major shareholder Vladimir Romanov and the comings and goings of several Lithuanian footballers over the past six years. For Scotland fans travelling to Lithuania, the game will be played in either Vilnius or Kaunus and there are several flights which operate from the UK to these cities.

LIECHTENSTEIN

LIECHTENSTEIN, a principality, has never played against Scotland in a full international although the countries met at U-17 level at Almondvale Stadium, Livingston in September 2007 when Scotland recorded an 8-0 win. Gordon Smith, now of Hearts, scored two goals that night.

Liechtenstein, therefore, which is bordered by Switzerland and Austria and has a population of only 35,000, will be a new venture for the Tartan Army.

Falkirk fans will have bad memories of their 2-0 defeat to Vaduz over there last July, the Liechtenstein club winning 2-1 on aggregate to progress in the Europa League qualifiers. The away game could involve a massive scramble for a very limited amount of tickets, depending on where Liechtenstein decide to play there home games, but Scotland should be too strong for the minnows.