Scotland v Ireland: Bring it on!

There have been moments over the past decade when Scotland's national team have looked in need of a miracle worker.

It's premature to describe Gordon Strachan as that. But maybe he's getting close.

He's certainly worked wonders with me. A dozen or so years ago I walked away after one wet, miserable night in Glasgow too many.

I've returned sporadically. But tonight I'm not only heading to another rainy night in Glasgow, I'm actually looking forward to it.

Expectant. Maybe even slightly confident.

Like our last match against Poland I don't quite see this as a must-win. But it does look like another mustn't-lose.

And I don't think we should have much to fear against Ireland.

That's not arrogance.

They've got good players. They've got a decent manager. They've enjoyed some decent results.

But so have we.

The apparent similarities between the two teams suggests tonight could be tight.

The various subplots over booing, Roy Keane's Gardai incident, the fact that so many players are drawn from the same leagues combine to add another layer of intrigue.

Tight but also feisty. A sell out and partisan crowd. A wet night under the floodlights.

Hold on to your hats.

The reality is, of course, that we find ourselves in a close group, in Strachan's view the hardest.

No team - the Germans are a possible exception - can afford an off night without losing ground.

Ireland know that as well as Scotland.

Winning your home games is vital. A point for Ireland tonight might just feel like a victory for them.

Strachan v Martin O'Neill. Aiden McGeady v the Scotland fans. Roy Keane v the world.

A win would give either team a fresh burst of momentum as they look forward to next year's qualifiers.

For Scotland the promised land of qualification would feel that bit closer.

A tight game. One moment of magic. One mistake. One scrappy, sclaffed shot deflecting past a keeper. That's all it might take.

Bring it on.

And, unfashionable as the sentiment might be in these more enlightened times, "let's get intae them."

Euro 2016: Tough group, different Scotland

Three games played, four points secured.

Other countries have made more spectacular starts to Euro 2016 but Scotland can be reasonably happy.

Last night's draw in Poland - after a seriously enjoyable ninety minutes - keeps us nicely placed in Group D.

Three points behind the Poles and Ireland, level with Germany and with arguably our two toughest away fixture out of the way.

Germany's defeat in Poland on Saturday and home draw with Ireland last night has left the top of the group more bunched than I might have expected.

History suggests that Germany will take care of themselves. It would have been far more damaging to find ourselves six points behind Poland this morning.

So while Scotland's recovery from Alan Hutton's early mistake fuelled second half dreams of three points, securing a draw would probably have satisfied most of us before the game.

If last night wasn't must-win it might just have been approaching mustn't-lose. In which case, as with Saturday's win against Georgia, job done.

There's also something increasingly appealing about this Scotland team.

Watching a team that seem to "get" their manager, that are prepared to show the right attitude and are capable of playing some really nice football (see our equaliser last night as Exhibit A) is refreshing. We've had occasional flashes in the last few years but too much of what Scotland have done has been pedestrian. Not now.

Gordon Strachan seems to be relishing the national job. And that's increasingly showing in the way his players are responding to him.

Not that qualification is going to be easy. Right now four teams are pushing for three spots, including the world champions. Somebody's going to be going home with a hard luck story and regretting an opportunity missed. As Strachan said last night:

"I said it after the Germany game and this confirms it: this is the hardest group, this will go to the last day."

Strachan may or may not be right about Group D being the hardest group of all but his conclusion looks bang on.

Playing Gibraltar away on the last day might yet be a serendipitous spot of scheduling.

What we can say is that, with three games played, Scotland can still claim to be in control of their own Euro 2016 destiny.

And they look better equipped to handle that responsibility than they have in many years.

Greer today but not gone tomorrow

Last year Gordon Greer became Scotland's oldest debutant in over 50 years.

Last night, just short of his 34th birthday, he made his competitive debut. And thirty-somethings across the land applauded him. Or at least this thirty-something did.

The Brighton captain also drew one of Gordon Strachan's more memorable post match quotes:

"Gordon Greer is fantastic. He looks nothing like a footballer; he looks like a rock star turning up at a testimonial game."

Strachan followed that up with: "And he's absolutely fantastic."

Hard to argue on a night when Scotland's most costly defensive lapses came from player with far more international experience.

The centre of defence has looked to be a weakness of Strachan's Scotland revolution.

Greer's belated emergence and the way he seamlessly replaced Grant Hanley in the starting XI is another encouraging example of how Strachan is getting the very best out of all available resources.

Homeless World Cup: Scotland pay the penalty

The second group stage of the 2012 Homeless World Cup ended with more disappointment for Scotland.

Scotland led for most of a hotly contested game with South Africa before succumbing to a an equaliser in the dying seconds.

With the game tied at 3-3 Homeless World Cup rules mean that the teams go straight into a sudden-death penalty shoot.

Both scored with their first attempts before Scotland missed their second.

That left South Africa to score and pick up the win.

The result left Scotland tied with Ukraine at the bottom of a group won by Brazil, who beat second placed Portugal yesterday to continue their unbeaten run.

At the Homeless World Cup every team competes throughout the tournament so Scotland and Ukraine both progress into the Mexico City Cup.

As do England, raising the possibility of an Auld Enemy clash on Sunday.

Before that though that Scotland play Norway today while England face up to Czech Republic.

Brazil play Austria in the top ranked Homeless World Cup with Mexico, Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Lithuania and Indonesia also still in contention to lift the trophy on Sunday evening.

Wales, defeated by Argentina yesterday, move into the De La Calle A La Cancha Cup and face Peru today.

Ireland, who finished third in Scotland's group, play Haiti in the The Fundación Telmex Cup.

The Scotland game will be live on www.homelessworldcup.org at 6.10 pm this evening.

These people feel like a piece of shit

As I've been saying all week the Homeless World Cup tournament is simply a celebration of the work that goes on for the other 51 weeks of the year.

Work to change lives by using football to empower people.

Work by people like Mexico manager Daniel Copto.

The Homeless World Cup affiliated project in Mexico now involves 7,000 people each week.

Addicts and homeless people from across the country brought together by football and given a belief they might otherwise have lost:

"As far as the authorities are concerned, these people do not exist.

"These people feel like a piece of shit. And you have to tell them they are not a piece of shit, so they can do whatever it takes to get better."

"We must build trust. Empower them."

Read more about Daniel's work in Mexico

Homeless World Cup 2012: Scotland shoot out success

The 2012 Homeless World Cup reaches day six with Scotland in action against Ukraine.

With the teams bottom of Group D after a tough start to the tournament's second stage this always looked like being a tight game.

So it proved.

A high scoring game though.

With the teams locked together at 6-6 at full time it was Scotland who held their nerve to win the sudden death shoot out.

A narrow win but a win. Scotland's first in the second group stage.

With one game left Scotland are two points clear of Ukraine and just one behind tomorrow's opponents South Africa.

At the Homeless World Cup all teams are involved until the end so tomorrow's result could yet decide what trophy Scotland will be contesting over the final days of the tournament.

Brazil still lead the group after four straight wins with Portugal trailing them by a point. Tomorrow's clash between those two could be a cracker.

Ireland, who lost 7-2 against Portugal today, are on five points and will be looking for a win over Ukraine tomorrow to hold off the challenge off the winners of Scotland v South Africa.

With England bottom of Group A, Wales look most likely of the home nations.

They currently trail Argentina by two points in Group E but could yet overhaul them when the two meet in the final game tomorrow.

Wake up, UK

Mel Young, the Homeless World Cup's president and co-founder, has expressed his frustration at the lack of media coverage the tournament receives in Britain:

"The media attention in the UK has been extremely disappointing compared to the rest of the world. And I have to question their understanding of what it's all about.

"Wake up, UK! This is the 10th year we have organised this tournament and on the first weekend alone, we had over 50,000 spectators - more than just about any match in the English Premier League.

"There has been a lot of talk about legacy since the Olympics, and rightly so, and I think it's about time the media played their part in supporting this event, which is not just a fiesta of football but a once-in-a-lifetime experience that transforms the lives of many players - the poorest of the poor around the world."

Hard to disagree.

After a success laden 'summer of sport' the Homeless World Cup would seem to be the perfect way of prolonging the positivity.

But you'll be looking a long time to find much mention of the tournament in our media.

That's maybe stranger still in Scotland where reigning world football champions are somewhat thin on the ground.

And while the tournament is a global event its head office remains in Edinburgh, a social enterprise that continues to deliver results despite the economic woes of the past few years.

Anyway. No need to be starved of the rich tapestry that makes up the Homeless World Cup. Just keep visiting www.homelessworldcup.org

Homeless World Cup 2012: Samba beat

Day two of the second group stage of the Homeless World Cup ended in something of a struggle for Scotland's reigning champions.

Group D always looked tough and so it has proved.

In their first game of the day against Ireland the Scots recovered from 2-1 down at half to snatch a last gasp equaliser in a second half where both keepers excelled.

Homeless World Cup games require a winner though and it was on to a sudden death penalty shoot out. Scotland missed their first attempt, Ireland duly scored and the 2-2 draw was converted into a 3-2 defeat.

If the Irish game had been a challenge the next match against a Brazil side free-scoring their way through the tournament looked like requiring a miracle.

So it proved. Scotland dug in well but - as unpredictable as this tournament often is - Brazil look to be genuine contenders.

A 10-1 defeat leaves Scotland second bottom of Group D, just the bonus point won in the penalty defeat to Ireland keeping them ahead of Ukraine.

They're also the group's lowest scorers so will be out to prove a point in the remaining games against Ukraine and South Africa on Thursday and Friday.

Homeless World Cup goals

Apparently the first four days of the 2012 Mexico Homeless World Cup saw 1,716 goals scored in 2,256 minutes of football.

Quite the spectator sport.

The real achievements though, as I can't stress often enough, are to be found in the other 51 weeks of the year.

It's those achievements that the tournament celebrates.

At football projects around the world people are given the support and belief to change their lives for the better.

People like England goalkeeper Aaron Ranieri. Through his involvement he made the England squad - and the chance to play in a tournament held in the country he left when he was five:

• More at www.homelessworldcup.org
• Watch live tomorrow at www.homelessworldcup.org/mexico-2012

The Not-So Beautiful Game

Public proclaim Ireland to have the worst European football shirt ever!

After three weeks of voting, the 1995-6 Ireland goalkeeping jersey has been selected by the public as the worst European national football shirt of all time. Registering 23.8% of the vote in the survey held by scotts Menswear, the purple, yellow, orange and green monstrosity comfortably topped the poll of over 500 voters.

In an interesting trend, two more goalkeeping jerseys joined the Irish offering to round out the top three. In second place was Peter Schmeichel's 1992 European Championship-winning jersey. The Danish multi-coloured polka dot design picked up 18.8% of the vote, while Bodo Illgner's 1990 German goalkeeping jersey took third with 15.8% of the vote.

scotts' survey asked football fans across the nation to vote for what they considered to be the worst national European shirts of all time, presenting the questionnaire in the form of a knockout tournament to reflect Euro 2012, which was being decided alongside it.

The winning shirt, worn during the culmination of Jack Charlton's illustrious career as Irish national team manager, was made by kit supplier Umbro. The jersey contains two shades of purple alongside orange and yellow Irish Football Association logos emblazoned across random positions; there is even a flash or two of traditional Irish green for good measure.

David Gorman, Marketing Manager from scotts Menswear, said:

"While there have been plenty of questionable-looking European football shirts, the 1995-6 Irish goalkeeper jersey was clearly the public's least favourite. With a striking colour scheme and somewhat dull design, I'm not surprised the shirt was prominent in the final reckoning. The interesting thing for me was that three goalkeeper jerseys filled the top three spots; I don't know whether there's an aversion to keepers in general, but it seems like a team's last line of defence doesn't always need to look good!"

While the scotts Menswear survey is now complete, the company is keen to continue the discussion via their social networking outlets.

David Gorman continued:

"While the public have voted on our own least favourite eight shirts for the poll, we're under no illusion that the years have provided many other contenders. If you find a shirt even more despairing than the ones we've picked and you believe it to be a worthy rival to our winner, upload a picture of the shirt to the scotts Facebook page and we'll see what the public think.  It doesn't have to be a European national shirt - we're keen to see how our nominated worst shirt stacks up against every shirt ever made!"

When Green Jerseys Are Worn

On international Wednesday a look at the often controversial question of international eligibility.

A guest blog from Zoe Broome exploring the reasons and emotions that might be involved in making a decision about which country to play for.

A tricky one this, with the eligibility rules never quite fully satisfying. Let us know your thoughts:

With Gary Hooper recently rumoured to be eligible for the Scotland squad, the discussion of whether players who are eligible to play for a country they were not born in should do so or not has again dominated conversations. This article will look at the discussion, especially in terms of the Irish Diaspora.

As Ireland has often been a country which a lot of people emigrated from, there have over the years been a lot of eligible players born elsewhere. And a lot of these players have opted to play for Ireland. This was especially the case under Charlton but even today there continue to be players such as McCarthy and McGeady who are foreign born and play for Ireland. Whilst Aiden McGeady has opted to play for Ireland, England international Wayne Rooney has not.

McGeady qualifies through both paternal grandparents to play for Ireland and he chose to do so after a brief spell in his youth career as a Scotland player. Whilst this has made him unpopular with some off the pitch: a mild example of this being that some Scots regard him as a “traitor”, on the pitch McGeady plays as well for Ireland as he once did for Celtic. This could be seen as an argument that, in spite of McGeady being born in Scotland, he feels patriotic about Ireland and he is willing to try hard to be a success for his grandparents’ country.

Rooney instead chose to play for England. Whilst he has been a successful player for England and has perhaps achieved more than he would not have done for Ireland, there was a feeling at the 2010 world cup among some England fans and commentators that he did not play as well for England as he does for Manchester United. Most of these critics cited wages as being the problem, and certainly the EPL does play its players very high wages. But another problem may be a lack of passion. Often Rooney does not, for example, sing the English national anthem.

If Rooney was raised in a community which had more in common with those in Ireland than with the average non-Diaspora community in England, and one which prided itself on being Evertonian with Irish roots rather than on its Englishness, English patriotism might not come naturally from his upbringing. And, there are certain ways in which a sense of Englishness would clash with a sense of Irishness: for example, pride in the British Empire. This would make it difficult for him to feel any sense of English patriotism which could help him to try hard for England.

What Hooper should do depends, then, on how he was raised. If he was raised in a family which regarded itself primarily as English: as is likely considering his grandfather was from the Scottish Borders but born in Berwick and the only possibly non-English member of the family, then he will probably try hardest and play best for England. However, if he was raised with any sense of Scottishness (especially Scottish nationalism) then the England squad and certain elements of England’s support may feel jingoistic to him, and put him off. If this is the case, it is best he opts for Scotland where he can take pride in his efforts for the country and try his hard to be a success.

> Thanks to Zoe who can be found on Twitter @zbwriter