Scots are unknown quantity says Morten Wieghorst

The 40-year-old was no random choice to publicise the friendly, however, which he did with typical grace at Hampden yesterday.

The recently installed Danish Under-21 coach, who spent ten years in this country with Dundee and Celtic, can personally declare there have been no meaningless fixtures of late between the two nations with which he has a special affinity.

Wieghorst appeared the last time the teams met in Glasgow's south side, in 2002. And the last time they met anywhere, in Copenhagen in 2004. The latter meeting was the final time he turned out for his country.

The former was an occasion he never thought he would make, having played little since his year recovering from Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder causing temporary paralysis.

"I was surprised to be picked as soon as was the case," said Wieghorst, who will be taking charge of his Under-21s against Poland while the senior Danish side are facing Scotland. "But Morten Olsen picked me even if I didn't feel ready for that kind of football.

"But he did and I came off the bench in the second half and got a fantastic reception. That will always stay with me."

There won't be many names in the current Scotland set-up that will stick in the minds of his fellow Danes, he conceded.

Politely, he offered that the situation isn't so different in Denmark, with not so many individuals like "the Laudrup brothers and Schmeichel" now, 19-year-old Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen a notable exception.

There is one almighty difference between Scotland and Denmark, however. Scotland have no major finals appearances since 1998. The Danes have only failed to reach one - 2008 - of the past seven European Championship finals, which of course they won in 1992. They also featured in the World Cup finals last year and in 2002 over the past decade.

"I don't want to be disrespectful to Scotland, because they are good players, but it's fair to say that, in Denmark, the general football fan wouldn't know too many of the Scottish players. But you could say that about many other nations.

"The game has grown. You get so many games on the telly, Champions League, the big leagues in England, Spain, Italy, so players from lesser countries are not highlighted as much.

"If you qualify for finals, people notice, and if you do well they notice even more. So in that respect it's only natural that people back home in Denmark don't know too much about the Scottish players. But the same thing could be said about Denmark. They are under a bit of criticism right now. It's as if we have to qualify for every single European Championship and World Cup finals; if we don't, people get very upset and disappointed.

"But there are only so many spots. The competition in European football is getting bigger and bigger and - you probably have the same feelings in this country - nations that you didn't hear about 20 years ago, all of a sudden they are forces to be reckoned with."

Wieghorst showed he could be a force in football coaching by leading FC Nordsjaelland, a club without a major honour, to success in the Danish Cup in 2010 and retaining the trophy this year.

Many of his Celtic contemporaries are now making a splash in management, with the 40-year-old Dane having played with Neil Lennon and his backroom members Alan Thompson and Johan Mjallby, new Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay and Paul Lambert, who led Norwich City to promotion to the English Premier League. Then there is fellow Scandinavian Henrik Larsson, in charge at Landskrona BOIS.

"We are not in touch on a regular basis, but we do speak," Wieghorst said. "We were all in Glasgow a couple of years ago for a benefit game for Phil O'Donnell's family. I speak to Henrik, who is just across the water from me. I've spoken to Malky Mackay and Billy Stark in the past couple of years and it is good to bump into these guys and catch up with them.

"I know Lenny and if I was to give him a phone about a player whom I thought had the ability to play for Celtic then I would not hesitate to make that call and recommend him. He is always welcome to phone me about possible Celtic signings."