SCOTS GROUND INTO DUST

 

(Image taken from Soccernet)

 

The last time Scotland faced Spain was in a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia. Berti Vogts was the gaffer at the time and James McFadden(then with Everton) hit the net before the match was abandoned). The last time the Scots faced the Spanish in a competitive encounter you have to go back to when Jock Stein was manager during the 1986 World Cup UEFA qualifying Group 7 campaign. The Scots won 3-1 at Hampden Park with Mo Johnston getting two goals and Kenny Dalgleish getting the third but then came a 1-0 defeat at the Estadio Roman Sanchez Pizjuan, Spain qualifying at the first time of asking while Scotland had to go via the playoffs. The Scots have never done the double over Spain in a competitive setting.

In this current campaign the Scots have already faced Spain once and were beaten 3-2 by them at Hampden Park. Since then Craig Levein's first campaign as Scotland manager has been a pretty respectable one and going into this, their final game, they were on course for the playoff mixer at least. Slight problem though, this Euro 2012 qualifying Group I match against Spain at the Jose Rico Perez stadium was surely mission impossible. Beat Spain and it would be mission accomplished, otherwise it would be a case of seeing what happened elsewhere. Levein named a completely unchanged lineup from last time around but there was no doubt this was a much bigger task.

Well, Spain ultimately did what they do in terms of posession and in the 6th minute David Villa set up debutant Jordi Alba who then found David Silva who found the net. After that well, watching Spain as an opposition fan is simply demoralising. It took ages for the Scots to even get a half-decent amount of time with the ball. From there, a half decent opportunity came but it went begging. You can't miss those sort of opportunities against a team like Spain. Sure enough in the 44th minute the reigning European and world champions struck again. Silva played a 1-2 with Pedro before slotting his second goal. Already it was looking rediculous, surely Scotland couldn't come back from this.

The Scots got the first opportunity of the second half but then the Spanish just deepened the gloom. In the 54th minute Silva set up Villa and Spain went three up. After that Levein freshened things up and the current rulers of world football started to take their foot off the gas, including conceding a 66th minute penalty which sub Blackburn's David Goodwillie slotted in. They could have gotten a second goal after that but the opportunity was blown spectacualarly. Even at the end though Spain could have got a fourth but failed. Ultimately it didn't matter. Scotland had been absolutely anhiliated in terms of gameplay with Spain looking as unbeatable as ever.

Elsewhere, Lithuania faced the Czech Republic at the Zalgris Stadium with the Scots needing the home side to win in order to make the playoffs. However the Czech had other ideas. Micel Kadlec opened the scoring with Jan Resek then adding two more Czech goals before half time. The home side then pulled one back through a Darvydas Sernas pen in the middle of the second half only for the Czechs to finish the game off with Kadlec getting his 2nd. That means that Scotland dropped to 3rd in qualifying Group I, two points behind the Czech Republic and the playoff mixer. That means that the Scots have missed out on a trip to POLUKR.

In qualifying Group G Wales faced Bulgaria at the Vassili Vevski Stadion. The game was largely boycotted by Bulgarian fans due to their team's bad form and the locals that did make it didn't have much to smile about, Gareth Bale opening the scoring for the Welsh just before half time. Gary Speed's crew went on to run the show in the early stages of the second half but weren't able to find another goal and the hosts couldn't find an equaliser once they did get their bearings. That means that the Welsh finish 4th in the group. Yet another failed qualifying campaign for Wales but their good finish to the campaign does hint at some promise for future tournaments.

In qualifying Group C Northern Ireland faced Italy at the Stadio Adriatico. Antonio Cassano opened the scoring for the home side with NI sending out a young side on what was by this point a meaningless suicide mission. Cassano got his second goal early in the second half with the game being finished off when Gareth McAuley put the bal into his own net. The British side had their chances but weren't able to take any of them. That means that Northern Ireland finish 5th in the group. Nigel Worthington's crew had their uses on occasion in this campaign but fell apart at the end. However Worthington's now walked away from the set up and the IFA have to find a new gaffer.

In qualifying Group B the Republic of Ireland faced Armenia at the Aviva Stadium. The men in green were running the show in the first half though the Armenia goalie getting sent off certainly helped and Valeri Aleksanyan putting the ball into his own net helped even more. Richard Dunne made it two for the Irish after half time only for Armenia to pull one back through Henrikh Mkhitarian but this ultimately proved to be a good night to be an Irish football fan. That's allowed the Republic of Ireland to remain 2nd in the group with a spot in the playoff mixer secure. They finish two points behind Russia and a spot in POLUKR but more importantly, four points ahead of Armenia and non-qualification.

(Image taken from Sky Sports)

So, here's what the final playoff mixer looks like: Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Estonia, Bosnia, Sweden, Croatia, Montenegro, Portugal and the Czech Republic. The main team of interest in that bunch for me is the Republic of Ireland. After points deductions, the Irish finished 4th in this virtual group, three points behind Sweden and a trip to POLUKR. They will have to settle for a spot in the playoffs.

So, here's the teams that have qualified for Euro 2012 so far:

Poland

Ukraine

Germany

Russia

Italy

France

Netherlands

Greece

England

Denmark

Spain

Sweden

Compare that to my predictions for these qualifiers and you have...10 of those teams I picked already booking their trips to POLUKR and four more in the playoffs. As for the two I messed up, Norway and Romania well the Norwegians only missed out of the playoff mixer by the skin of their teeth and I seriously underestimated Bosnia.

Next question, what will the playoffs look like?