Scotland, Norway and FYR Macedonia battle for second in Group 9

The Netherlands may have already secured the top spot in Group 9 of the European World Cup qualifiers, there will still be enough to play for as Scotland, Norway and Macedonia FYR fight a battle for second place.

Scotland face the most difficult task of these three, hosting the Netherlands who have won all of their first seven games in this group. Although the Dutch don’t have to win this game, several players will want to show their skills to manager Van Marwijk as his mind should already be at next year’s World Cup.

The Scottish need at least a draw to defend their second place without depending on the result of the other match, but a win is obviously the most welcome result for the Tartan Army.

One thing that surely is in Scotland’s favor is the fact that their two rivals, Norway and Macedonia FYR, face each other on Wednesday. This means that only one of these teams could form an actual threat to the Scottish.

Both Norway and Macedonia FYR need the Dutch to beat Scotland, which would give either side the chance to hop into second place.