SCOTLAND v. CROATIA

[kenny hoggan]

SCOTLAND v. CROATIA
HAMPDEN PARK, GLASGOW
WEDNESDAY 26TH MARCH, 2008

Scottish FA Chief Executive Gordon Smith today confirmed that the Scottish National Team will play a friendly match against Croatia at Hampden Park on Wednesday 26th March, 2008, kick-off 8pm.

The Croatians are currently ranked tenth in the FIFA World rankings and have an impressive array of talent at their disposal - including Arsenal's Eduardo and the highly rated and much sought after Luka Modric.

Commenting on the match, Gordon Smith said: "This promises to be a great match between two teams at the top end of the world rankings. We saw in their matches in the Euro Qualifiers against England that Croatia has an exciting squad who play great football. They have an impressive pedigree on the world stage - finishing third in the 1998 World Cup.

"If we ourselves want to keep on improving, then these are exactly the types of teams that we should be playing. Our football is on the up - and we are only a few places below Croatia in the rankings. What we have to do, though, is get back to the situation where we regularly qualify for major championships. This is what Croatia do - and this is what we must seek to emulate.

"I firmly believe that playing against better teams shows us the standard that we have to reach. That is why I was so keen to negotiate a friendly against Croatia. We have a great squad of players who are improving all the time and we will soon have a new manager in place who we all hope will lead us to the World Cup and beyond.

"This will be the new manager's first game in charge. I know that our supporters will turn out in big numbers to support him and the team as we enter a bright new era for Scottish football."

Scottish Football Association: The Scottish FA: Scotland :

[kenny hoggan]

interesting how they mention the new manager, Croatia are a good team, hope its an exciting friendly and not a half hearted effort

[DavidMc]

McFadden set to miss Croatia friendly

Birmingham forward James McFadden will miss Scotland's midweek friendly against Croatia after undergoing keyhole surgery on a knee injury.
McFadden sat out Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Reading in the Premier League and is also discounted for matches against Manchester City and Wigan.

Manager Alex McLeish said: "James had a small tear in his knee.

"He had keyhole surgery and we'll miss him for two more matches. It happened after the Newcastle match."

Scotland manager George Burley is under pressure to rest several Old Firm players for his first match in charge.

The Scottish Premier League has a backlog of fixtures exacerbated by drainage problems at Motherwell's Fir Park and Gretna's fall into administration.

And leaders Rangers host reigning champions and closest challengers Celtic in a crucial game that kicks off at 1230GMT on Saturday.

Rangers and Scotland captain Barry Ferguson sat out his club's midweek Scottish Cup quarter-final draw with Thistle with a troublesome ankle injury.

He played through the pain to return for Saturday's league win over Hibernian but could be risk against Croatia.

Rangers team-mates Christian Dailly, Lee McCulloch, Allan McGregor and Kris Boyd are also in Burley's squad.

The new manager also named five Celtic players - Gary Caldwell, Steve McManus, Scott Brown, Paul Hartley and Barry Robson - and they could all face Gretna on Sunday before the national squad gathers.

[LAF]

Rangers quartet miss Croatia game

Rangers quartet Barry Ferguson, Lee McCulloch, Allan McGregor and Christian Dailly have withdrawn from the Scotland squad to play Croatia on Wednesday.

Ferguson has an ankle injury, McCulloch has a thigh problem, Dailly is out with a broken toe, while goalkeeper McGregor's injury is unknown.

Celtic's Barry Robson and Derby County's Stephen Pearson have also pulled out of the friendly at Hampden.

Birmingham striker James McFadden is injured, Cardiff's Gavin Rae comes in.

Celtic's Stephen McManus will captain the side in Ferguson's absence.

The game will be Scotland manager George Burley's first in charge.

Burley had come under pressure to rest several Old Firm players ahead of next week's league clash at Ibrox.

Rangers captain Ferguson has been struggling with an ankle injury, after deciding to delay an operation.

Ferguson sat out last week's Scottish Cup draw with Partick Thistle, but did feature in the league win over Hibs.

Dailly broke a toe during the Hibs game at Ibrox and the Rangers website said all three would receive treatment and were expected to be fit for the Old Firm game.

Rangers striker Kris Boyd is the only Ibrox player who is still in the Scotland squad.

Five Celtic players - Gary Caldwell, Stephen McManus, Scott Brown, Paul Hartley and Barry Robson - are included and all five played in Sunday's victory over Gretna.

McFadden sat out Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Reading in the Premier League and is also discounted for matches against Manchester City and Wigan.

Manager Alex McLeish said: "James had a small tear in his knee.

"He had keyhole surgery and we'll miss him for two more matches. It happened after the Newcastle match."

Croatia qualified for the Euro 2008 finals as group winners ahead of Russia and England.

They will face Austria, Poland and Germany in Group B of the finals in Austria and Switzerland in June.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that Scotland will host Northern Ireland in a friendly at Hampden on 20 August and the Czech Republic in Prague on 30 May.

The Scots will also face the Czech side at Hampden in 2010.

BBC SPORT | Football | Internationals | Rangers quartet miss Croatia game

I expect some Celtic players to pull out aswell, what with the Old Firm coming up.