After years of frustration it is becoming good to be a follower of the national football team again. Growing up watching the likes of Dalglish, Souness et.al. it seemed that Scotland would always be there or there abouts in the upper echelons of the international game. As the years went by a gradual decline, not helped by a tragic lack of funding from a London based government, saw the arrival of Berti Vogts and the darkest days were with us.

This week however has seen two very different but impressive performances. The 6-0 hammering of the North Atlantic Islanders would not have been a surprise in the good old days but of late Scotland has been under a Curse of the Faroes. It will not be expunged until we beat them comprehensively in Toftir but on the evidence of the imaginative forward play on evidence last saturday the Curse should finally be put to rest.

Even more impressive was the away win in Lithuania. Walter Smith has again got his tactics spot on. With our slow defenders needing extra cover facing a skillfull side he again went for 3-5-1-1 on the road. It worked despite the unbelievably and typically Scottish bad luck of losing both Mcfadden and Quashie to first half injuries. It was a performance that was most about hard work and team spirit against a very good side that will take points of everybody else apart from Scotland. However, for me, two players stood out as being exceptional. In midfield Fletcher was immense in his passing and vision. And further forward Kenny Miller troubled the defenders every time. It was a travesty when he was booked and will miss the France game.

A big question that Walter Smith will have to answer is if Barry Ferguson deserves an automatic starting place next month assuming he has fully recovered from his surgery. Congratulations in the meantime to David Weir on captaining the side during his 50th cap. He will now enter the SFA Hall of Fame.

Next month the competition gets tougher, but for the moment let the good times role. The decline has been officially halted and Henry and Shevchenko quake in their boots.

I must also mention the continuing improvement in the tennis played by Andy Murray. If he keeps making this consistent progress we will be celebrating a Scottish winner of the US Open next year. Nice wristband Andy !

Congratulations to Andy Murray for the recent good form, culminating in beating world number 1 Roger Federer in straight sets in the Cincinnati Masters. His recent run has, not coincidentally, come after starting work with coach Brad Gilbert. Clearly Brad has boosted Andys confidence but more work still needs to be done on his fitness levels, strength and stamina.

I predict it will take another year for him to seriously challenge at a major event such as the US Open or Wimbledon. But challenge he will and I am confident he will eventually win a major tournament.

In football it has been the same old story on the international front. Scotlands Under 21's dominated Slovenia in Murska Sobota and could have been 4 up by half time. They lost 1-0. Now they must beat France at Pittodrie on September 1 to stand a chance of making the European Championship finals.

Something I have noticed recently regarding Scottish football is that young and promising players, for instance the successfull Under 19's, are often not finding regular first team football at the bigger clubs. More expensive, but ultimately over rated, foreign players are taking their places. This would be fine if the teams were successfull on the international stage. Often however the players underperform, a case in point being Hearts defeat to AEK Athens last week. In effect what we are seeing is a rerun of history and a situation which adversely affected the Scottish national side.

To end on an upbeat note I will mention Scotlands success at the inaugural Celtic Cup, an athletics event involving Ireland and Wales. Scotland won comfortably and the many young competitors winning their events suggests the nation has a bright future on the track.

Scotlands babes have taken Europe to task for underestimating the strength of our football. The sporting world is waking up to the shock news that Scotland have reached the final of the Under 19 European Championships. Could Scotland really get two trophies this year after the Kirin Cup triumph in Japan ? Stranger things have happened (but not many).

The first Scottish youth side to qualify for a major tournament in 20 years found themselves in the Group of Death alongside Spain, Turkey and Portugal. After coming through, a semi-final victory over the highly rated Czech Republic has set up a final against Spain.

Unfortunately Spain managed to beat Scotland 4-0 in the group stage making them clear favourites. However this team have been underdogs in every game and confidence now will be high. Another reason for pessimism is the suspension of star player Steven Fletcher, rather undeservedly by all accounts. Hibs are producing a lot of good young players these days.

As usual, the media have belatedly jumped on the bandwagon. This is good news for finding coverage of the final however. BBC 2 Scotland will have live coverage on Saturday (7pm) and on Radio Scotland you can find internet coverage.

Masterminding young Scotland has been the legendary Archie Gemmill. Scorer of Scotlands best ever goal, father of Scott and now this. What a man ! Best wishes for Saturday from those Supporting Scotland Worldwide.

Hopefully the immediate future will bring good times for Scottish sport on the global scene. Here are a few things to look out for in the coming months.

In football the qualifiers for Euro 2008 begin for Scotland against the Faroe Islands on September 2nd. This match will be at Celtic Park and not Hampden. This is because of a clash with a Robbie Williams concert ! What a disgrace. Anyway it is important Scotland get 3 points from this one with both world cup finalists in the group. It is interesting to note that Scotland could have automatically qualified for this tournament by hosting it but the powers that be unfortunately did not provide the appropriate level of support. Again, more disgrace for those who should have the best interests of Scotland at heart.

Scotlands club teams are preparing for the upcoming season. Hearts, with Champions League pretensions, are currently touring Austria and await a qualifying game against either the Belarus or Bosnian champions. The first leg will be on 26 July at Murrayfield. Good luck !
Celtic are in Poland as they gear up for the Champions League whilst Hibs are in the Intertoto Cup and are on course to meet Odense of Denmark in the final phase after beating Dinaburg of Latvia 5-o.

In other football news, Glasgow will be hosting the UEFA Cup final on 16 May 2007. So at least the authorities here have shown a little imagination. And congratulations to the experienced Archie Knox who has been named manager of the under 21 team after replacing Rainer Bonhoff.

In rugby Scotland will be playing 3 autumn tests against Romania, the Pacific Islands and then Australia. The dates are saturday 11, 18 and 25 November. Try to get to Murrayfield as I believe they have reduced the prices !

As for cricket, Scotland will be trying out some fringe players against the MCC in a friendly (10 - 12 July) and then play 4 games in the European Championships. Here are the details :

vs Ireland (Ayr 5 August)

vs Holland (Ayr 6 August)

vs Denmark (Glasgow Accies 8 August)

vs Italy (Hamilton Crescent 9 August)

Enjoy !

Hello and welcome to the first blog all about Scottish sport in an international context.

Scotland has a long and proud history in sport and the country can compete on an independent basis in many sports in a way that it cannot do in other aspects of life. This means that sport is an important part of peoples lives and sporting success is a means by which Scotland can become better known around the world.

This blogspot will concentrate on scots competing in international competitions. So news on the latest old firm derby will have to be found elsewhere. But there is a lot that it can encompass.

The national football team are entering an exciting stage under Walter Smith. The team has been stabilised after the Berti Vogts years and should continue improving as new players are starting to emerge. The qualifying group for Euro 2008 contains 3 teams from the last 8 in the world cup. Italy, France and the Ukraine will provide exciting times ahead. Qualification would amount to the greatest achievement in Scottish sporting history.

It is also an exciting time for other Scottish teams on the international stage too. The rugby side have seen improved results recently and, like the football team, this has been helped by a new coach who has given the team increased confidence. Frank Hadden has seen the team beat England and France at Murrayfield. Now they will be hoping to bring that good home form abroad. A match up against South Africa on saturday 16th would be an amazing place to start. More importantly is the World Cup next year. Again, exciting times ahead.

As it is for the cricket team. Perhaps not the most popular sport in Scotland but it is gaining in popularity all the time, helped by increasing coverage of the national team and qualification for next years World Cup in the West Indies.

This blogspot will also give news and opinions on the individuals representing Scotland abroad. Another good Wimbledon run came to an end for Andy Murray today but what a future he has ahead of him. David Millar lies 12th in the Tour de France after day 2. Of course he will not win it but his very presence will help Scottish sport in the future.

So that is the whole point of this. Good times lie ahead. Names we know now and names yet to come. All representing Scotland on the world stage.