World Cup
2008-09-06 - Macedonia vs Scotland
A Sports Betting Pick by Gooner
FIFA World Cup 2010 European Qualifiers
Skopje - Macedonia
Saturday 6th September 2008 - KO 15:00
Scotland meet Macedonia on Saturday, and then Iceland four days later, in their opening matches on the way to a possible place at South Africa 2010.
MACEDONIA FYR
Despite failing to ever qualify for a European Championship or World Cup Macedonia will only be disregarded at Scotland’s peril because
Srecko Katanec’s side are slowly improving.
Lazio’s Goran Pandev is a goalscorer used to playing at the top level and the 0-0 draw with England and 2-0 win over Croatia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers show that Macedonia are more than capable of causing an upset.
SCOTLAND
George Burley gets his Scotland reign under way for real this weekend in his first competitive game, against a tricky Macedonian side. He will be more than happy being drawn in the smallest qualifying group (Group 9 contains only five teams) but there’s no room for slip ups.
Scotland welcome back Celtic’s Shaun Maloney and Birmingham’s Garry O’Connor and the Scots are in need of the extra firepower, following a disappointing 0-0 draw with Northern Ireland.
Rangers defender David Weir and Birmingham City forward Garry O'Connor have also been forced to withdraw, while defender Kirk Broadfoot has been selected.
Looking at the Scottish team sheet there isn’t any star players, but there is a distinct quality of hard-working grafters who should be able to get there or there abouts this time next year, much like in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.
THE VERDICT
I rate Macedonia on the same level as sides like Georgia, Cyprus, Belarus and Wales and, at home at Skopje, I can see the home side getting a share of the spoils.
The Pick :
Macedonia 1-1 Scotland
