Soccer

Scotland World Cup fixtures announced

Scotland will launch their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign away to FYR Macedonia and bring it to a potentially thrilling climax…

Fri Dec 14 2007 - 00:00

Scotland will launch their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign away to FYR Macedonia and bring it to a potentially thrilling climax against top seeds The Netherlands at Hampden.

The Scottish Football Association secured what appears to be an ideal fixture list after negotiating with representatives of their Group Nine rivals in Amsterdam this morning.

They avoided having to play any qualifiers in June 2009, which was a priority, and the only minor inconvenience might be the fact they must play their final three games - against Norway, Macedonia and the Dutch - in the space of 22 days at the start of the 2009/2010 season.

SFA president George Peat, who handled negotiations along with chief executive Gordon Smith, was pleased by the outcome of the two-hour talks.

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"We believe that these set of fixtures gives us the best chance possible of securing qualification for the 2010 World Cup," said Peat.

"We are happy that we have no games during our close-season and have the final two matches at home. There is always a certain amount of compromise involved in these meetings but we are satisfied with the final outcome."

The first game against the Macedonians takes place on September 6th next year, and is followed four days later by a trip to Iceland.

Norway at Hampden follows on October 11th, before a five-month break precedes the tough trip to the Netherlands on March 28th, 2009.

The Scots face Iceland at home on April 1st, 2009, before taking on Norway away on August 19th.

A home double-header against Macedonia and The Netherlands concludes the campaign on September 5th and 9th.

Scotland 2010 World Cup Qualifying Fixtures:

Saturday, September 6th, 2008 - FYR Macedonia v Scotland
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 - Iceland v Scotland
Saturday, October 11th, 2008 - Scotland v Norway
Saturday, March 28th, 2009 - The Netherlands v Scotland
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 - Scotland v Iceland
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 - Norway v Scotland
Saturday, September 5th, 2009 - Scotland v FYR Macedonia
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 - Scotland v The Netherlands