So who would have thought it? Scotland romp to a 6-0 victory. Five goals in the first half? I?ve only ever seen that happen on the PC in Championship Manager. We?re now sitting pretty in a group I wrote us off in from the moment our name came out the hat.

Though it is just one game. It was against the weakest team in the group. And we still have Italy and France to play. Not to mention Ukraine. Oh yes, and Georgia as well.

But let?s be positive, why not? Better, more experienced Scotland teams than this, have failed to put away weak opposition.

Although the group still looks impossible to get out of, we were treated to Lithuania holding Italy to a draw in Naples on Saturday night. With the World Champions taking on World Cup runners-up France on Wednesday there?s certainly a chance they?ll drop more points.

The fact the group is so tough can only galvanise the squad and bring the best out of them.

Walter Smith has the side playing in ways that were unimaginable under Berti Vogts and his predecessor Craig Brown. It?s amazing how much of a difference the appointment of Smith has made to the look of the side and the morale of players and fans. The team looks confident and suddenly numerous stars are emerging.

Kris Boyd bagged two on Saturday taking his international goal tally to 4 goals in 3 games. James McFadden now has ten international goals. Both strikers are still only 23. Kenny Miller can stick the ball away for his country, even if he can?t get a glimpse of a goal in a Celtic shirt. Substitute Garry O?Connor also netted late on, meaning all four of the strikers used got on the scoresheet.

But up front isn?t the only place Scotland are looking good.

Manchester United fans may still wonder why Darren Fletcher gets a game for them, but it?s easy to see why he?s now a regular in the dark blue. He?s been a hard working midfielder for his country and although he had to come off at half-time at the weekend he was still the man of the match.

After a club career that has suffered a few ups and down central defender Steven Pressley now looks like being an international defender was his birthright. He will win his 30th cap against Lithuania, a record for a Hearts player.

“I was a late starter, but I’m thoroughly enjoying my football, and hopefully it will not be the end at 30 caps,” Pressley told The Scotsman newspaper after the win at Celtic Park. “I think you appreciate it more if you’re a late developer.”

The longer Christian Dailly can play as part of this team the better. For years the West Ham defender has been one of Scotland?s best players, always giving everything for the team. If there?s one player who deserves to be in a successful Scotland team it?s him.

He told the Daily Record after the match,

“I don’t know if that was the best performance by any Scotland team I’ve been part of in 62 international appearances but I do understand the implications of a six-goal win.

“It means there’s a freshness and exuberance about the team. There’s pace and enthusiasm along with a crowd-pleasing aspect to our play. In short, the future’s looking good.?

Lithuania are by no means going to be easy pickings. Their draw against the Italians illustrates just how much of a threat they will be. Of course we have already been humbled by the Baltic State. In April of 2003 Scotland lost to a 74th minute penalty from Tomas Razanauskas in Kaunas.

Of the current squad Miller, Pressley and Dailly were all in the side that night.

On the upcoming match Dailly had this to say to Sky Sports,

?We are under no illusions as to how good a side Lithuania are. They will feel exactly the same as us after Saturday’s games.

“You don’t go to Italy and get a draw without being a good side. They know that if they beat us at home they are in a great position.

“There may be a certain level of expectancy after our victory but there is no point in getting carried away. We could quite easily lose the game on Wednesday and be really down about ourselves.”

Despite their excellent performance at the weekend we have to be confident of getting a good result against Lithuania. That would then leave us nicely placed for next month?s home tie with the French. Though it?s worth keeping in mind the last time we won 6-0, against Finland in 1976, we followed that up with a 2-0 defeat to Czechoslovakia in the next match.

Even if we don?t make it out of this group I think we can watch each game in future with a sense of pride rather than the embarrassment we?ve occasionally felt in recent years. Perhaps we should forget how hard the group looks and just concentrate on enjoying each game as it comes.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 5th, 2006 at 1:35 pm and is filed under International Football - Scotland. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.