The Low-down - Macedonia

So, with little over a month until our World Cup qualifying campaign begins, here is the low-down on our first opponents, Macedonia.

Macedonia became a member of FIFA and UEFA in their own right in 1994 after the breakup of the former Yugoslav Republic.

Since, the Nation has been through 4 Euro Championship Qualifying campaigns and 3 World Cup Qualifying campaigns, failing to make it through to any of the competitions.

There most memorable result to date, certainly for those in Britain, was a 0-0 draw with England in October 2006.

They have also picked up impressive results against the Netherlands and Croatia in recent years, with a 0-0 and 2-0 win respectively.

The current Macedonia squad is a good mix of young talent and experienced players, with their most notable player being Lazio Striker Goran Pandev. The Serie A striker has notched up 12 goals in 38 caps.

A very hard working and hard to break down team, this could be the first potential banana skin in a very tough Qualifying for us Scots.

Macedonia Facts

• Coach Srecko Katanec
• Most Caps Goce Sedloski (84)
  
• Most Goals Gjorgji Hristov (16)
• FIFA Ranking 56
• Highest Rank 49
• Lowest Rank 147

Our Fixtures

Here are the fixtures and dates for our World Cup Qualifiers.

6 Sept 2008 - Macedonia v. Scotland
10 Sept 2008 - Iceland v. Scotland
11 Oct 2008 - Scotland v. Norway
28 Mar 2009 - Netherlands v. Scotland
1 Apr 2009 - Scotland v. Iceland
19 Aug 2009 - Norway v. Scotland
5 Sept 2009 - Scotland v. Macedonia
9 Sept 2009 - Scotland v. Netherlands

Group 9

As we all know Scotland are in Group 9 in the European qualifying section, the only group of 5.

All group winners will qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with the 8 best second place going into a 2 leg play-off. Winners of these play-off will go through to the World Cup. In total Europe has 13 qualification slots.

So now, with all the rules and guff out the way, what lies ahead for us Scots?

Well a very tough time I reckon.

Aswell as ourselves, group 9 pits us against The Netherlands, Norway, FYR Macedonia and Iceland.

None of these games are easy in my eyes and this could well prove to be more testing than the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

What are everyone's thoughts on the campaign ahead?

Check back over the coming weeks for the low-down on our opponents and much more.

Hello

Hi there. So this here is a blog tracking the progress of the Scottish National team during the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign and, hopefully, beyond.

This is very much a work in progress.

I will have this updated as and when there is news surrounding the national team.

Please comment on any articles featured.

Enjoy.