“The nationality of players within the Premier League and Football League is a subject I regularly return to. It’s not because I’m a believer that foreign players are a blight on our national sport, but because I find the exotic nature of the nationalities represented an interesting discussion point. If you believe that the English national side suffers due to the number of foreign players in its league you should probably look closer to home for the players who are blocking the way of Englishmen as it’s Irishmen, Scotsmen and Welshmen who make up the vast majority of “foreign” players on English clubs’ books.” Spirit of Mirko

“The Scottish delegate rose and proposed an amendment to Law 1, concerning the field of play. He moved that it be made compulsory for all fields to be surrounded by digital advertising boards, whose height would be no less than seven feet (2.14m) and would not exceed fifteen feet (4.57m). The chair enquired of the Scottish delegate as to the purpose that would be served by such an amendment.” sport is a tv show

“‘Oben am jungen Rhein’ (Up above the young Rhine) is played to the same tune as ‘God Save The Queen’, still the official national ditty of anyone living in Scotland. When Sky Sports News replayed the booing which permeated Liechtenstein’s anthem during their visit to Hampden last month, many a little Englander no doubt bemoaned the anti-British impudence of ‘the sweaties’. The Sweaty Socks. The Jocks. Yet that pejorative rhyming slang provides a clue to the whole problem.” (WSC)

“Scotland awoke from its hangovers yesterday morning a little unsure how to react to Tuesday’s 97th heroics (if that’s the right word). On the one hand there’s nothing like a last-kick-of-the-game winner to send you home happy, and every successful team can point to such bits of good fortune in games where it was barely warranted. On the other hand we know that we came within seconds of perhaps the most humiliating result in our history, and Stephen McManus’s late headed winner does not, in some eyes, mitigate such an awful display.” (twohundredpercent)

“A dramatic injury-time winner from Stephen McManus saved boss Craig Levein from a disastrous competitive home debut and prevented Scotland’s Euro 2012 qualifying campaign taking a severe blow against Liechtenstein at Hampden. Levein had warned not to expect a goal-fest against a team ranked 100 places below the Scots, but the home side only just managed to scrape the three points they desperately needed after claiming a point from their Group I opener in Lithuania on Friday.” (ESPN)

The Horror of Scotland 2 Liechtenstein 1
“I don’t know. I really don’t. It can’t go on. But it will. It bloody will. There are times when watching Scotland play international football produces the sensation that one’s actually trapped inside a Beckett play. It might seem a tragicomedy to you but it’s no fun in here. A game of two halves, as a friend puts it, in which bugger all that’s good happens. Twice.” <a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/alexmassie/6256845/scotland-2-liechtenstein-1.thtml”>(Spectator)

Scotland 2-1 Liechtenstein – UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying
(The 90th Minute)