Macedonia 1-2 Scotland
World Cup 2014 Qualifiers
Group Stages
Tue 10th September 2013
20:30 (19:30 UK)
National Arena Philip II, Skopje (A)
Att: 16,000
Anya(59)
Maloney(88)
Bannan(59)
D Marshall (M Gilks 46)
A Hutton
R Martin
G Hanley
S Whittaker (L Wallace 79)
S Brown(C)
C Mulgrew
B Bannan (J McArthur 77)
S Maloney
I Anya
S Naismith
Manager:
Gordon Strachan
FIFA Ranking: 50
Kostovski(83)
Pandev(83)
T Pacovski
D Georgievski
N Noveski
V Sikov
S Ristovski
D Babunski (D Tasevski 41)
O Stjepanovic
I Trickovski
A Jahovic (J Kostovski 82)
G Pandev
A Trajkovski (M Ivanovski 56)
FIFA Ranking: 89
Key: Goals Assists Missed Penalty Red Card
| 1 | David Marshall (Cardiff City) | (8 Caps) | Age: 28 | ||
| 2 | Alan Hutton (Aston Villa) | (35 Caps) | Age: 28 | ||
| 3 | Steven Whittaker (Norwich City) |  |
(21 Caps) | Age: 29 | |
| 4 | Russell Martin (Norwich City) | (8 Caps) | Age: 27 | ||
| 5 | Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rovers) | (10 Caps) | Age: 21 | ||
| 6 | Shaun Maloney (Wigan Athletic) |
 |
(31 Caps) | Age: 30 | |
| 7 | Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic) | |
(9 Caps) | Age: 27 | |
| 8 | Scott Brown (Celtic) Captain | (33 Caps) | Age: 28 | ||
| 9 | Steven Naismith (Everton) | (24 Caps) | Age: 26 | ||
| 10 | Barry Bannan (Crystal Palace) | (13 Caps) | Age: 23 | ||
| 11 | Ikechi Anya (Watford) | |
|
(2 Caps) | Age: 25 |
| 12 | Matt Gilks (Blackpool) | (3 Caps) | Age: 31 | ||
| (Replaced David Marshall 46 min) | |||||
| 15 | Lee Wallace (Rangers) | (7 Caps) | Age: 26 | ||
| (Replaced Steven Whittaker 79 min) | |||||
| 18 | James McArthur (Wigan Athletic) | (13 Caps) | Age: 25 | ||
| (Replaced Barry Bannan 77 min) | |||||
Yellow Card  Red Card  Double Booking Goals Scored Assist  Penalty Save |
|||||
3 Steven Whittaker
World Cup 2014 Qualifiers
Group Stages
Tue 10th September 2013
20:30 (19:30 UK)
National Arena Philip II, Skopje (A)
Att: 16,000
World Cup 2014 Qualifiers
Group Stages
Tue 10th September 2013
20:30 (19:30 UK)
National Arena Philip II, Skopje (A)
Att: 16,000
Scotland went into the Macedonia match bottom of the group, therefore a victory in Skopje was a must, to give Scotland a chance of not finishing in bottom place. They travelled to Skopje without a suspended Snodgrass, plus Jordan Rhodes who broke his hand and Charlie Adam who had a back strain.
Scotland started the game the much stronger team and had a great chance to take the lead when Anya crossed the ball in to Naismith, but he headed high over the bar. On the half hour mark, Naismith played Scott Brown through on goal one on one with the keeper, but his shot was saved. Just before half time, Anya has a high shot from the edge of the box tipped away. A minute later a Scotland chance turned into a Macedonia attack on the break that luckily ended up in the side netting. Just before the hour mark, Bannan played a great ball through to Anya on the left who played a low shot from a tight angle past the keeper to give Scotland a well deserved lead. Midway through the second half, Matt Gilks pulled off a great save from Ivanovski and also tipped over the bar a shot from Jahovic, in a period of the game that was Macedonia's strongest. Maloney then had a shot go just past the post. With seven minutes remaining, Macedonia's pressure paid off when substitute Kostovski equalised. Maloney failed to clear and Pandev played the ball to Kostovsti, who knocked the ball past Gilks and slotted home. With two minutes remaining, McArthur was fouled on the edge of the box. From the resulting free kick, Maloney placed the ball into the top corner to put Scotland back in front. In injury time at the end, substitute Lee Wallace almost made it three when he slotted a low shot past the post. The game ended 2-1 and Scotland against the odds gained an impressive win in Skopje, and the progress under Strachan continued.