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I hate to say this but if Scotland made it to Euro 2012 with such poor passing and ball retention as they showed in recent matches against Sweden and Lithuania we would get slaughtered in the finals. (Thankfully none of the TV stations I can watch had Scotland on last night - I watched Germany show how to wallop a minnow Azerbaijan, 6-1).

A win is a win, simple as that. I remember England losing to Northern Ireland 1-0. I remember us losing against Norway back in the qualifiers for 94, and Sweden in 2000.

Getting 3 points for Scotland was a HUGE result, regardless of who they were playing. And all of a sudden an away point in Lithuania looks like a very good point. Dont forget Lithuania have taken some big scalps over the last 2 years.

Still, the best the Scots can hope for is 2nd and then its a lottery. I doubt they would qualify against most runners up, but you never know.

Whats more promising is the form of the u21s, who have reached the play offs, which is no mean feat.

I hate to tell you this, but on these performances Scotland do not deserve to make the finals. Scottish football really is a bit of a joke.
And, on another topic, those Numpties who booed during their opponents Nationa Anthem, and the have the gall to try an justify it on 606,certainly don't deserve to be watching any team play anywhere.
If, undeservedly, Scotland manage to scrape through from a weak qualifying group, they will get slaughtered at the Finals.

Did you hear the England fans booing the Swiss anthem, cos i certainly did. Im English, btw. But our fans do it all the time.

Here we see the type of English fans that are kicking themselves about the fact that we played horrendously, and yet still won the game with the kind of grit and determination that their team was lacking in South Africa.
What a chirade!

#3 I totally agree with you until your final sentence.
Spain are in Scotland's group which hardly makes it "weak." If England had been placed in a group with the World and European Champions then I think they would be wetting themselves. Having Montenegro as your main rivals is not quite the same.

Poor as this performace was, let's not forget we've had plenty of howlers in the past, even if you take the Vogts era out of the equation. Perfomances are always lacking at this time of year before players have had a chance to build up match sharpness. Let's see what the next 2 performances are like before we start the post-mortem.

Good blog Chris

Watched Junior football since a boy and quite honestly the senior game just lacks some of the all-round drama and 'romance' of the juniors..huddled at the back of sheds with a hot bovril trying to stay out of gales and rain in winter, watching full-scale fights between dug-outs and players, refs being escorted by the cops off pitches at the end of games, all wildlife is there..

Any thoughts on the difference in standards between the top junior sides and those at the bottom end of the Scottish leagues?

As well as pinching the tune of the God Save the Queen I wonder if the Lichtensteiners also included a literal translation of the lines "May he sedition hush and like a torrent rush, Rebellious Scots to crush,God save the King". While there is breath in my body I will continue to boo this odious tune - whoever it is sung by. Some of us won't be crushed.

Comment 2 (Phil) "A win is a win, simple as that".

You then go on to quote countries such as Northern Ireland, Norway & Sweden who have all beaten other countries as some time or other.

You simply cannot begin to compare Liechtenstein with the above countries. Liechtenstein has a population of under 40,000. Under 40,000 - do you realise how small that makes them? Even Northern Ireland has around 1.75 million - over 40 times more people. Get real, that performance was completely and utterly dire - if you are now celebrating a 2-1 win over one of the smallest minnows in world football, then you may as well give up. Dreadful.

#10
And shocks and upsets are art and part of football..and avoiding that was a good thing..for us if not gor you..don't think you'll find anyone here celebrating a triumph..relief more like!

Rob - I didn't say I was against Scotland in any way. I was just pointing out that even though you scraped a victory in the 97th minute, it was against such a small nation (and at Hampden as well), that it should not be a cause for celebration. Relief, certainly. Scotland simply must ensure that a performance like this doesn't happen again, if you are not to be the target of further ridicule. The really worrying thing, I would guess, is that just when you think the stock of Scottish football can't fall any lower, somehow it always manages to plumb a new, unexpected depth. Personally, I'd like to see the Scots back up there. It may be too much to expect automatic qualification, but surely challenging for play-off positions (and giving countries like Liechtenstein a sound beating) is not too much to ask?

#12
In terms of reputation we were on a knife edge and Spain will comfortably top the group but you are right that you want to challenge for the play-off spot..and thats why this game was a relief because we are still in it. The quals always throw up some quirky results (France were beaten at home, Portugal drew with Cyprus) and there are games where you are in line for the shock - relieved to avid that!

The same team that everyone is having a go at us about is the same tiny country that England only managed to beat 2-0 in their 2 qualifiers back in 2003. Any international win is a good result no matter how bad we have played.