Group D - opponent watch!

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Rudy and Durm part of an inexperienced Germany back line against Scotland tonight. Russell Martin, an injury doubt, starts for Scotland.

[SwanVsDalton]

Rudy and Durm sound like flower power folk combo.

[Charlie Darwin]

Both of the games in our group are on Sky Sports, Gibraltar-Poland on SS2 and Germany-Scotland on SS5.

[DannyInvincible]

'Flower of Scotland' is a great anthem, but, by God, the German band really sapped all life out of that rendition.

[zero]

5 changes in the german team from the side that started the world cup final. i think scotland will go into this with a lot of belief, keep it tight the first 20-25 and all that.

[Charlie Darwin]

Germany should be 1-0 up already, Muller missing a header he'd normally bury. Think this'll be a long night for Scotland.

[zero]

poland 1-0 up after 11 mins.

[liamoo11]

scotland and northern ireland fans are been messed about with only sky coverage

[DannyInvincible]

Germany 1-0 up. Looping header over Marshall from Muller.

[SwanVsDalton]

scotland and northern ireland fans are been messed about with only sky coverage


Not to mention your up-north YBIG brethren.

Lovely cross from Rudy there and typical Muller finish. Germany could canter on from here.

[DannyInvincible]

I see the Faroes are beating Finland 1-0 in Group F with the second half just kicked off.

[Charlie Darwin]

More proof of Trap's genius.

[pineapple stu]

3-0 Poland now. Two goals quickly after half time

[Stuttgart88]

Scotland hit post.

[pineapple stu]

4-0 Poland now. Gibraltar collapsing.

[pineapple stu]

Finland equalise, but Albania are now leading in Portugal.

[pineapple stu]

5-0 Poland. Four goals in ten minutes. Hard to tell of course if that's because Poland are good or Gibraltar are bad

[SwanVsDalton]

Poland 5-0 up. Hopes rising that we could hammer these lads next month. It'll probably be 2-0.

[davidatrb]

Is it worth noting or has it been noted already that both Scotland and Poland were beaten last time they played Georgia in Georgia? 3 away points for Ireland today might prove crucial even if we did underperform.

[SwanVsDalton]

Scotland equalise. Classic counter attack, good finish. Germany being made to pay for some very casual finishing, they should be a few up.

[Stuttgart88]

Scots equalise

[abcd]

Kind of expected this to happen. Normally I would be delighted for Scotland but not in this group. Only positive is that there is plenty of time for the Germans to get another.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

What have I always said about Scotland's performances and results against big teams?

It really is absolutely disgraceful that we have come to accept, as a nation, getting hammered by teams like Germany and Spain as a mere formality when teams like Scotland can produce performances like this.

They have looked confident right from the start. We look like a team drained of any belief or bravado.

Interesting to see what happens in this group. I can see Scotland, Poland and Germany all taking points off each other but I think it could get bowling shoe ugly for Ireland based on our performance today.

We got hammered by Portugal in June coincidentally and they are struggling to compete with teams like Albania, as they always do. They'll be wishing they had us instead of Albania in that group. That's the sad thing.

[Stuttgart88]

Phew, that didn't take long

[abcd]

And right on cue, Germany retake the lead.

[SwanVsDalton]

What have I always said about Scotland's performances and results against big teams?

It really is absolutely disgraceful that we have come to accept, as a nation, getting hammered by teams like Germany and Spain as a mere formality when teams like Scotland can produce performances like this.

They have looked confident right from the start. We look like a team drained of any belief or bravado.

Interesting to see what happens in this group. I can see Scotland, Poland and Germany all taking points off each other but I think it could get bowling shoe ugly for Ireland based on our performance today.

We got hammered by Portugal in June coincidentally and they are struggling to compete with teams like Albania, as they always do. They'll be wishing they had us instead of Albania in that group. That's the sad thing.

2-1 to Germany.

Scotland have done well and caught Germany on the break a few times, just like we did in Cologne. Germany have been by a major distance the better team. On another day, they'd be out of sight.

There is no comparison between a friendly hammering and completely different competitive match.

[Charlie Darwin]

Germany really should be five or six ahead. Scotland are as bad as we were against them in Dublin, and they had a significantly better XI that day.

[zero]

scotland pushing for an equaliser. they look much, much better than us.

[davidatrb]

Ireland have the best record against the Germans, when compared to the other Group D teams. We have drawn 2 lost only 3, both draws recent enough in 2002 and 2007. Poland and Scotland have drawn 2, lost 4and some of those draws were ancient history. Nobody has beaten Germany competitively from this group and nobody probably will by the end of the group.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Scotland could have had a few too on another night. This is opening match away from home, not the glorified friendly we had at the end of the campaign where we still could have lost by 6 goals.

Pains me to say it but Scotland are playing like we can only dream of in matching circumstances.

[Charlie Darwin]

Scotland could have had a few too on another night. This is opening match away from home, not the glorified friendly we had at the end of the campaign where we still could have lost by 6 goals.

Pains me to say it but Scotland are playing like we can only dream of in matching circumstances.
They could have had one more goal and haven't looked remotely like scoring apart from that. Germany have butchered at least four golden chances. We'll need to ride our luck against them too though.

edit: 7-0 Poland

[SwanVsDalton]

Pains me to say it but Scotland are playing like we can only dream of in matching circumstances.

Really?

Don't agree. They've played decent counter attack but should be getting a standard hammering. Nothing more than an ok performance made notable by rank bad German finishing.

[Charlie Darwin]

Marco Reus is gone off after turning badly on his ankle. Looks in quite a bit of pain.

Charlie Mulgrew sent off. Second yellow for kicking the ball away in the third minute of injury time, idiot.

[Eirambler]

Germany definitely played with a bit of a World Cup hangover tonight. I think it's a great result for us that Scotland failed to take advantage of the opportunity. James McArthur being utterly useless at both ends of the pitch pretty much saved the day.

Also it's just as well that goal difference against Gibraltar won't count given what Poland have done tonight.

[the doc]

On tonight's performances and ours, I'd say we could be struggling to finish 3rd in the group.

Serious doubts about our management and team tactics!

Come back Mr Trapattoni all is forgiven!

[elroy]

Not sure how you can say that. Poland beat Gibraltar, wow!!! There is nothing to be taken from that.

Scots looked good but still lost. That's all that matters. We were poor today but won. Plenty to learn, plenty room for improvement. But an absolutely crucial 3 points which is the most important thing, similar to the Georgia and Armenia away games in recent campaigns.

[Stuttgart88]

I'm not going to allow TOWK to be the only told-you-so merchant on this thread!

I'm not going to harp on about how Scotland look organised, mobile and confident and all that. We've all noticed that under Strachan. Only a fool wouldn't have.

But my point since the hugely frustrating draw in Israel has been to bemoan the fact that we don't properly engage teams. We always try to be cute hoors. Tight and maybe nick one. Balls to that. Play your best. It's what was successful for the Swedes and Danes for years. Strachan has cottoned on to that.

Anyway, we have got the good start we needed. Hopefully that'll give O'Neill the confidence to trust his team more.

[SwanVsDalton]

I'm not going to allow TOWK to be the only told-you-so merchant on this thread!

I see a lot of TOWK in you etc etc etc.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Think there was thoughts from some that Gibraltar might have the capacity to be more than Andorra-esque minnows. Not a hope. Fought hard to be recognised by UEFA, the next year is going to be a serious wake-up call.

[tetsujin1979]

Mulgrew is suspended now for Scotland's next game against Georgia in Glasgow. Who's going to replace him and is it that big of a loss for them?
Given their results of late, you'd still expect them to beat Georgia in a month's time.

[Charlie Darwin]

Mulgrew is suspended now for Scotland's next game against Georgia in Glasgow. Who's going to replace him and is it that big of a loss for them?
Given their results of late, you'd still expect them to beat Georgia in a month's time.
McArthur will probably replace Mulgrew, as he seemed to be playing midfield tonight.

[tetsujin1979]

Ikechi Anya's reaction to scoring against Germany: https://twitter.com/IkechiAnya/statuses/508898520833982464

[DeLorean]

Am I being a bit too Roy Keane or is that way too happy a tweet after losing? I don't think I'd be impressed if it was one of our players.

[pineapple stu]

gTfNRP4U4O4

Goals from Gibraltar v Poland. So much space... The keeper didn't cover himself in glory either, which is slightly unusual. So often you see a team being opened up again and again, but the keeper "kept the score respectable"

First campaign's bound to be the hardest. Don't see any problems in this one whatsoever.

-QLRjMZY4xQ
Germany v Scotland goals. Suspect defending from Scotland for both. Good finish for the Scottish goal though. Plenty of time to overthink that and panic.

[DeLorean]

The layout of the fixtures are pretty kind for us I think, especially now that we managed to scrape over the line on tricky match day one.

Scotland were never likely to get something from Dortmund and now our German away fixture is bonus territory, to a certain degree, for us. Compare that to the nightmare comeback from the Swedes in Berlin in the last campaign, with only two spots up for grabs. Our win in Georgia means that Scotland/Poland's trip there is also bonus territory, but again for us. Also, Scotland's defeat yesterday, as respectable as it was, now puts them under a lot of pressure to get the maximum against Georgia next month. It's clear that they have improved, but this is arguably their first high pressure game under Strachan where they are expected to take the game to the opposition. It's much easier to contain than create.

[SwanVsDalton]

The layout of the fixtures are pretty kind for us I think, especially now that we managed to scrape over the line on tricky match day one.

Scotland were never likely to get something from Dortmund and now our German away fixture is bonus territory, to a certain degree, for us. Compare that to the nightmare comeback from the Swedes in Berlin in the last campaign, with only two spots up for grabs. Our win in Georgia means that Scotland/Poland's trip there is also bonus territory, but again for us. Also, Scotland's defeat yesterday, as respectable as it was, now puts them under a lot of pressure to get the maximum against Georgia next month. It's clear that they have improved, but this is arguably their first high pressure game under Strachan where they are expected to take the game to the opposition. It's much easier to contain than create.

If we've something going for us over Scotland, it's that they are relatively unproven at taking the maximum required points from lower seeds. They're always liable to draw a winnable game. That's their acid test for this year, but I'm convinced points will be dropped along that line. We'll probably drop them too, but I'm happy to have an away trip at Tbilisi out of the way with the maximum.

[DannyInvincible]

But my point since the hugely frustrating draw in Israel has been to bemoan the fact that we don't properly engage teams. We always try to be cute hoors. Tight and maybe nick one. Balls to that. Play your best. It's what was successful for the Swedes and Danes for years. Strachan has cottoned on to that.

I'm all for a more positive, engaging and inspiring approach, but it's also worth remembering that for all the heroism and effort expended by the Scots last night, they still lost. Germany promptly had them back behind again immediately after what was more-or-less a brief kick up the arse for a team who had been cavalier and wasteful in front of goal all night.

[back of the net]

looks like Reus could be out of ireland game

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/international/2014/0908/642324-reus-injury/

[Stuttgart88]

I'm all for a more positive, engaging and inspiring approach, but it's also worth remembering that for all the heroism and effort expended by the Scots last night, they still lost. Germany promptly had them back behind again immediately after what was more-or-less a brief kick up the arse for a team who had been cavalier and wasteful in front of goal all night.

No, but it's the positive approach that has seen them move quickly up the rankings. They look livelier, hungrier and more dynamic than we do right now. O'Neill admits there is work to be done and explained that he overrated Georgia. My reading of his subsequent remarks is that he knows this is just the start and Sunday's team was just that, Sunday's team.

[paul_oshea]

Did oNeill say that?that's exactly what I thought.