Defiant Smith ready to joust with giants

There were gasps of sympathy from those not put into this mincer on the stage of Montreux’s congress centre. As if the three favourites were not punishment enough or a hefty slip down the seeding system, the ghosts of campaigns past came back to haunt Scotland too. The Faroe Islands, where Scotland drew during the Euro 2004 qualifiers. Lithuania, where Berti Vogts’s team lost during the same bedraggled campaign. If Scotland had won those matches, they would have qualified automatically for the finals in Portugal at Germany’s expense. How simple would that have been compared to the task Smith must square up to now?

The section is completed by Georgia, officially the strongest of the seeds in Pot Six according to the coefficients used by Uefa. They have also been given fresh impetus by the appointment of Klaus Toppmoller as their coach after fading badly in the World Cup 2006 qualifiers. As the draw unfolded, the German delegation sat behind Toppmoller cried “oh no” when it’s full horror for him was unveiled. The man who led little Bayer Leverkusen to a European Cup final against Real Madrid at Hampden four years ago was not cowed though.

Toppmoller has a face like Bob Dylan’s and hair like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons, yet still cut an altogether saner figure than babbling Vogts used to as he analysed the challenge facing his side and Scotland.

“We must hope the top three take points from each other,” he said. “It is very tough for all the teams, so anything is possible. Scotland have a good record of reaching major finals and from what I have seen and heard they have improved recently. Hampden had such a pure football atmosphere in 2002 despite the result not going my way and I am looking forward to going back there. Shota Arveladze and Zurab Khizanishvili are in my squad and that will help us because they know the Scottish players well.”

Two decades after being sent to the Group of Death at Mexico 86 as an assistant to Alex Ferguson, Smith now has another one that looks like a firing squad for Scotland’s hopes and will surely extend to a miserable decade the nation’s absence from major tournaments since France 98. “My one hope is that we can get off to a decent start,” said Smith, with pleasing defiance. “The fixture dates will not be set up for another fortnight yet, but the hope is that we can get off to a good start which would give us impetus. We didn’t get that the last time and were always chasing it. Hopefully we can get a number of points and hang in there but we will have to play exceptionally well on a consistent basis to do so.”

The dates meeting will take place in Paris on February 9 or 10, reflecting France’s status as top seeds, and they and the Italians, with the biggest television markets, will lead the haggling over an order of play. “With seven countries involved nobody is going to get exactly what they want, and I mean nobody. Everybody will have to compromise,” warned David Taylor, the SFA’s chief executive. “I think the dates meetings can be fractious and we are going to have to be prepared for that,” added Smith.

Marcello Lippi, Italy’s coach, did not make it to Montreux and Raymond Domenech, the man in charge of France, said he could not consider the group properly until after the World Cup finals. Making up for this lack of quotes from them was one Michel Platini, Uefa’s president-in-waiting, switching fluently from French to Italian to French through a succession of interviews and even sparing a few thoughts for Scotland too. “Maybe we could take the game to Tahiti,” he joked, when remembering that the Rugby World Cup will tie up the Stade de France for two months in the autumn of 2007, when the Tartan Army might visit.

Yet Platini will remember Scotland as his nemesis when he managed France. The nation which stopped him reaching Italia 90 through two Maurice Johnston goals at Hampden on a soaking night 17 years ago that Noah would have feared to take The Ark out in. Italy, meanwhile, could have been beaten by Smith’s rejuvenated team last September in Glasgow, the game ending 1-1 after Kenny Miller’s opener. Scotland often raise their game when illustrious visitors call but must make sure Georgia, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands leave with nothing if they are to stand a chance after taking one point from a possible nine at home to Slovenia, Norway and Belarus in the last World Cup campaign. “I think you look forward to those against Italy and France,” said Smith. “That’s the glamorous end of it but at the other end of the group we have to make sure we acquit ourselves well against the teams from the fifth, sixth and seventh pots. It was always going to be vital that we didn’t lose home points regardless of the draw.”

Scotland happened upon France at the right time in the late 80s, as they were going through a cyclical hangover after the retirement of such enticing players as Platini, Jean Tigana and Alain Giresse. They struggled in their 2006 World Cup qualifying section against Israel, the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland until Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram came out of retirement to drag them through, but those two and a few others will not continue beyond Germany.

“I think many of our good players will retire after the World Cup and there will be a chance for another generation,” confirmed Platini, “but I don’t know if they will be as good as the great team we have had. We could have some problems as it is always a time when special players leave. The World Cup is a great time for the national team and when you have put so much into that sometimes you have nothing left.”

Scotland, in contrast, have most of their veterans signed up for another campaign, many of them still awaiting their first taste of a major tournament finals. “The basis of our team will be made up of experienced players,” reiterated Smith.

“We will have a sprinkling of younger players but the foundation will be more experienced ones.”

Taylor was at Hampden in 1989 as a supporter to watch the victory over France. “We deserved to win and if we want to get back to where we were in football then we’ve got to get these days back again, especially at Hampden. I am rather hoping now that France or Italy win the World Cup, then that would just be a terrific opportunity for Scotland to pit our wits against that. I was just whispering to Walter, ‘Things have gone alright so far’, and thinking to myself, ‘This could be worse’. It was looking fine until pots two and one came out.”

Smith might beg to differ having been assured by Alexei Mikhailitchenko, who played for him at Rangers, that the current Ukraine side, spearheaded by Andriy Shevchenko and managed by Oleg Blokhin, is the best they have had since emerging from the break-up of the Soviet Union. This was demonstrated as they sailed past Turkey, Denmark and Greece into the World Cup finals with just one defeat in 12 games of what initially seemed a problematic group. Scotland have never played them previously but Celtic provided a litmus test of sorts when losing 3-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk in last season’s Champions League group stages.

The Faroes, in contrast, are all too familiar. Scotland have now been paired with these pesky amateurs from the archipelago in the North Atlantic four times since they entered international football in 1988 and their last two visits to the craggy outpost of European football have finished in embarrassing draws. Smith must hope he can succeed where both Vogts and Craig Brown failed and depart up that alarmingly short runway with three points stowed safely on board the SFA’s chartered flight.

There is no getting away from the Lithuanians either. That shrinking violet Vladimir Romanov will probably have a few things to say before his adopted country play Scotland but at least Smith can do two scouting missions for the price of one each time he sees Hearts from now on. Edgaras Jankauskas, Saul Mikoliunas, Deividas Cesnauskis and Nerijus Barasa will wish to secure the bragging rights over the Scotland quintet of Craig Gordon, Andy Webster, Steven Pressley, Paul Hartley and Neil McCann at Tynecastle. Algimantas Liubinskas, Lithuania’s coach, will find Smith’s version of Scotland tougher than Vogts’s, yet could be forgiven for not looking too concerned by the reunion. “I won’t comment on Hearts and Romanov, that’s not my problem,” he said quickly. “We lost in Glasgow last time and won in Lithuania, and the two teams were evenly matched.”

Smith’s thoughts will now turn to the World Cup finals, where he will see plenty of Scotland’s main rivals. The Italians, who he already knows inside out, will not be able to strut through a tough opening group that comprises the Czech Republic, Ghana and the US. France will be taxed rather less by South Korea, Switzerland and Togo while Ukraine, similarly, will not be fretting about facing Saudi Arabia, Spain and Tunisia. It is possible that Scotland’s manager will be staying right through to the final on his scouting mission, and that underlines how hard his qualifying mission is.

“We have two teams who have won the World Cup in our group and have the capabilities to win it again,” he concluded. “Qualifying is hard enough without having that.”