International Football

One of the tragedies of the World Cup is that, occasionally, the best players never get the opportunity to play on football’s greatest stage. The likes of George Weah, Abedi Pele, George Best, Ryan Giggs and Jari Litmanen, for example, were unable to drag their countries to the World Cup.

But what if the World Cup featured a bonus squad, comprised of players who didn’t qualify – with no more than one player per country? It might look something like this…

Petr Cech (Czech Republic)

Scotland have managed a victory, a draw and a defeat from their first three Euro 2016 qualification games, but the performances have been more impressive than the results suggest, with good showings away in both Germany and Poland.

So far, Gordon Strachan has performed quietly impressive as coach, both on and off the field - the team seems more organised and more confident, and Euro 2016 isn't an unrealistic target. Here's five ways Strachan has helped Scotland improve...

1 - Plenty of new call-ups

For years, England supporters have called for the end of the 'golden generation', the group of players who failed to live up to expectations at international level. It's finally happened: Ashley Cole's retirement was announced shortly before the World Cup, while Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have followed since.

The announcement of Roy Hodgson's 30-man squad for tonight's friendly with Denmark was greeted with a predictable chorus of complaints, despite the fact it appears a reasonable selection - a mix of promising youngsters and established stars, and, more importantly, a balance between club form and past international performance.