Two teams that have failed to reach the WC finals, so they are preparing for the Euro 2012 qualifiers, and a much experimental line-up is expected to be used by both managers.
Soon after the Scots were knocked out of the WC, they replaced their manager, and Craig Levein should show us why he was given the job by changing the image of Scotland in his 1st test.
This will also be an indication of whether Scotland may reach the Euro 2012 in Poland-Ukraine, as the Czech Republic were also drawn in the same group, alongside the likely front-runners and title defenders Spain, with the less-fortunate Lithuania and likely-bottom Liechtenstein also in the group.
I don’t know about you, but I think McFadden is the most effective striker in Scotland’s squad on the international scene. He’s out injured though, and so is Lee Wallace, while Kris Boyd (2nd best only to McFadden IMHO) starts on the bench!! Also McCulloch and Fletcher have been excluded for respective injuries.
The Czech come into this game with an almost totally revamped squad to replace their older boys who failed them in the WCQ campaign. A fairly inexperienced side that is to say, with only Arsenal’s Rosicky as a well recognized name.
Petr Cech, Grygera, Rozenhal, Baros and Kovac are all missing for one reason or another (and it’s time for many of them to retire from the international scene anyway).
Suffice it to say that in spite of the many absentees on the Scottish side, they still possess more experience on their side than their visitors, and they’re always hard to beat at their own den, so maybe Levein will be fortunate enough to start his reign with a win.
Pick:
Scotland win
